GALLERY 7
PHOTO COLLAGE
Click on image to ENLARGE and for Print Purchase Info.
QUADRANT PHOTO COLLAGE
Click on image to ENLARGE and for Print Purchase Info.
PARIS PHOTOGRAPHS,
Click on image to ENLARGE and for Print Purchase Info.
ROME PHOTO COLLAGE
Click on image to ENLARGE and for Print Purchase Info.
THE FIRST GROUP OF PHOTOGRAPHS ARE COLLAGES OF OBJECTS ARRANGED ON A COPY STAND AND PHOTOGRAPHED WITH A LARGE FORMAT CAMERA IN MY STUDIO.
At the time these images were made they were printed on 16x20 and 20x24 Kodak chromagenic color paper, but recently with the advance of technologies I have digitized the negatives and now make GICLEE prints of these
Giclee canvas print with
image wrapped side edges.
Creative Process.
The process of creating these images starts with gathering all sorts of objects for including in a photograph, including vegetables in various degrees of decay and shop tools that are sometimes used to break up the vegetables. Often the tools themselves will be included.
The objects are arranged on a large specially constructed floor standing copy stand. The base at table height is a large 24"x30" piece of glass supported by a wood frame with black velvet draped under it. The aim is to get a full black for the background. Objects are then arranged on the glass in layers. Selection is done randomly. There is never a plan in mind during creation, and the objects themselves suggest the organization. At some point the arrangement seems complete and ready to photograph.
A 4x5 wood field camera is located directly above the object arrangement and supported by a specially constructed wood arm. Usually several exposures are made using low ASA color film.
Artist Intentions.
The works in both groups is about separating everyday objects and grouping them into a new context. On one hand it is the throw away character of our culture today which catches my eye and interest and causes me to use everyday objects that become something else when scanned and collaged into a digital image.
Secondly it is my delight to create surprising juxtapositions of objects that keep my interest and hopefully those of other viewers. Thirdly I am interested in creating a flight of fancy, a world which is dream like, with commonplace objects that are pictured clearly but change meaning by being in a new and different context. Finally I am a colorist, creating emotive worlds that establish and embellish the meanings of places and objects.
THE QUADRANT IMAGES CONTAIN FOUR SEPARATE SINGLE IMAGES ARRANGED NEXT TO EACH OTHER MAKING A SINGLE FINAL IMAGE.
They employ the same techniques as the single images but by arranging them in quadrants they play back and forth with one another. They are all a composite of four images, four separate moments in time. but can be perceived simultaneously as one image and one moment in time.
THE FOLLOWING TWO GROUPS ON THE LEFT WERE TAKEN IN PARIS, FRANCE AND ROME, ITALY WITH A 4X5 AND 8X10 LARGE FORMAT CAMERAS.
At the time these images were made they were printed on 16x20 and 20x24 Kodak chromagenic photo paper, but recently with the advance of technologies I have digitized the negatives and now make Giclee prints both on canvas and watercolor paper.
Giclee canvas print with
image wrapped side edges.
Creative Intentions.
Both Paris and Rome are major world class cities with mixtures of the old and new. They have an urban excitement that is similar to New York City and other major metropolitan areas of the world. But they also have their own special flavors and cultural characters which I found invigorating as an American. I saw this as the subject matter for my images and it guided much of what I accomplished during my stays in both places.
PARIS.
I traveled to and lived in Paris for 5 months during a sabbatical leave from Cornell in 1985. Initially I was struck visually by the range and richness of historical architecture as well as the evolution of the formal layout of the city. Everywhere in the central city were buildings of classical appearance as backdrops to the modern urban life of the people. However after a while I also noticed a layer of imagery over and on top of the classical, presenting appearances and messages quite different from the historical underlay. Everywhere there were posters and images about politics, promoting movies, and sometimes blatant sexual ads. This contrast between the two fascinated me and the result was a series of images where a vertical element in the center of the image bisects and divides it between the raw commercialism of our time and the classical sub-structure of the physical place.
I brought with me an 8x10 field camera which I pulled behind me around Paris on a luggage cart, even in the subway. Typically I would set up a tripod an mount the 8x10 camera to make an exposure either with color or black and white film. Frequently a group of Parisians would form, being interested in my camera, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I then went back to my living quarters and put away the negatives which I had decided to take back with me to my studio in the US for processing rather than do it in Paris.
When I did return to my home in upstate New York I processed the negatives in my darkroom, and then made 16x20 chromagenic prints on Kodak color paper.
ROME.
In the fall of 1989 I spent my time teaching and photographing in the Cornell Program in Rome. Rome is both an ancient and modern city, and this is especially evident in the heart of the city, My first impressions were focused on the ancient structure of the city, the ruins of Roman buildings, the rich overlay of Renaissance and Baroque architecture, and the modern buildings that popped up in among the classical structures and spaces. This rich mixture of visual "stuff" was expanded even further by the wild activity of daily street life, the waves of motorcycle riders at street corners during rush hour, the open air markets, restaurants, ice cream stores, corner bars, etc.
My photographs are intended to be about this chaotic mixture. My desire was to catch the flavor of this visual cornucopia and translate it into "packed images" where contradictory elements sit side by side and only make sense through my power of organization.
I brought with me to Rome a 4x5 view camera and exposed a series of color and black and white negatives. No prints were made there except for black and white contact sheets. I made a conscious decision to wait until returning home to the US to make final display prints.
In my studio at home I made positive prints on 16x20 color paper. Then I cut these up into smaller pieces with a sharp knife, re-arranged them into new arrangement compositions. and re-photographed these with a 4x5 camera. Lastly I printed the composites on 16x20 and 20x24 chromogenic paper.
Recently with the advance of technologies I have digitized the negatives and now make Giclee prints of the Rome images both on canvas and watercolor paper.
Giclee canvas print with
image wrapped side edges.
| Stan Bowman |
|---|
