The American economy was once based upon the manufacture and export of well-crafted goods. Increased economic challenges have caused a shift from domestic manufacturing to a service and information-based economy. As a result of consumer desire for low-cost goods and consequential pressure for less expensive labor, Americans’ homes are now filled with imported goods. This was not the case in the recent past.
In Made in America, I have physically removed all evidence of foreign-made goods from the photographs I have made of both my own home and the home of my grandmother. This generational contrast illustrates change over time. Within the body of work, I present contrasting scenes; my grandmother’s home suggests warmth and stability, whereas mine is a sad and almost barren interior.—Jolene Esposito
Jolene Esposito’s work explores ideas of consumerism and is incredibly relevant to contemporary times given the global nature of economies and manufacturing. She not only brings personal sentiments to the work when comparing her space with her grandmother’s, but the contrast revealed therein is particularly poignant.
This post was contributed by photographer David Welch.
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As film and other traditional methods of photography continue to decline in use and availability, we are confronted by a proliferation of digital technology for the production and dissemination of images. Walter Benjamin famously observed that the photographic medium, with its potential for faithful reproduction by mechanical means, is a medium uniquely suited to the purposes of public exhibition compared to other visual art forms such as paintings that exist as singular cult objects.
Now that the means of production and distribution have progressed from mechanical to digital, the potential for public exhibition has increased exponentially. These developments represent not only a quantitative, but also a qualitative shift in the meaning and perception of photography and photography’s role in shaping the greater art-scape.
In the age of information, we are rarely confronted by a singular image, or even a cohesive sequence of images forming a linear narrative. Rather we are bombarded in a milieu of multimedia where the photographic image coexists alongside visual, audio and text based stimuli. Through the database structure of the internet, hyperlinking, metadata and sorting by user-driven algorithms, the viewer is empowered to create their own personal nonlinear narrative.—Mike Patterson
Mike Patterson, a graduate student at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), is working to expand the vocabulary of photography to accommodate the new ways in which images are produced, distributed and viewed in the age of new media.
This post was contributed by photographer David Welch.
Amanda Boe is a photographer based in San Francisco. These images are from her series ‘What I Hold Dear’. She writes:
These photographs are part of an ongoing series titled What I Hold Dear, which explores my relationship between my native home in South Dakota and my present life in California. After leaving the Midwest over a decade ago, I developed a deeper appreciation for the places that influenced my life and felt inspired to revisit them with my camera. Between 2009 and 2011, I made a series of trips back to South Dakota, seeking out places from my past that resonate with me. At the same time, I continued to photograph in California and found myself drawn to scenery that reminded me of the Midwest: open, isolated, and quiet.
My work depicts an intersection of two worlds: looking back at a place left behind and searching for a sense of place in another. Moving through landscapes and interior spaces, a narrative began to unfold as I retraced my journey thus far. The process of photographing between California and South Dakota allowed me to address the feeling of being distanced yet emotionally attached to a place I once knew so well. What remains within me, and what I hold dear, is an innate longing for the familiar feeling of home.
This post was contributed by photographer David Welch.
Boston photographer Matthew Gamber holds a BFA from Bowling Green State University, and an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts / Tufts University. He has taught at Art Institute of Boston / Lesley University, College of the Holy Cross, Savannah College of Art & Design, and Massachusetts College of Art & Design. He is the former Editor in Chief of Big RED & Shiny, and has worked on preservation projects for the State Library of Massachusetts and Harvard University Libraries. He is represented by Gallery Kayafas in Boston and you can see this work in the upcoming deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum’s 2012 deCordova Biennail. Gamber writes:
‘The photographs in Any Color You Like are an experiment in how photography can confuse our perception of information. These photographs represent objects whose primary function is to simulate our observation of color. When these items are rendered in a traditional black–and–white format, the information that remains is merely an abstraction of its previous form.’
This post was contributed by photographer David Welch.
Daniel George is a Savannah, Georgia based photographer. His photographs document human relationships to the environment. This work is from his series, Natural Selection, in which he writes:
‘The contemporary landscape is detailed and intricate. It is divided into segments that are separately owned and diversely maintained. Through photography I am exploring these unique subsections that form this complex environment. I am focusing on variations of land, which reveal an individual’s personal reflection of, and relationship to the environment. Their interconnection is conveyed through directly manipulating and placing objects within the landscape. Often, the attempt is to emulate an ideal natural world.’
Greer Muldowney is a fine art photographer and adjunct professor based in Boston, Massachusetts. She works in several formats, exploring ideas based upon- or working around-anything American; whether it looks that way or not. Her work has been exhibited in several galleries in the United States, Hong Kong and France. She writes:
‘At 6,426 people per km2, Hong Kong boasts the most densely populated urban center in the world. The reality of sustainable practices, depletion of resources and a shifting global power paradigm pervade media involving China, and its Western syndicate territory, Hong Kong. By making imagery here, I ask viewers to contemplate these issues, but to also see these places as homes; not statistics.
‘As the living cities and infrastructure that address cultural standards and progressive technologies. These photographs do not propose a reality so different from the spin of contemporary media, but asks an audience on the other side of the world, the Western world, to reflect on whether these images provide a surrogate for wonderment or trepidation for a changing global climate and future.’
Zhenjie Dong is a Chinese artist and photographer who is exploring ways to express her social and political concerns through photography. A graduate from the Communication University of China with a BFA in English Language and Literature, she is currently pursuing her MFA in photography at Savannah College of Art and Design. Of her series ‘QR’ Dong writes:
China is a country that has a long history and a rich cultural heritage. Contemporary China, however, faces many problems, including political corruption, social injustice, wealth segregation and web censorship. While the major government controlled media is still celebrating the happy life of Chinese people under the rule of the government, people ridicule authority and reveal the reality they see through the Internet.
This series intends to address the social issues that China faces but which are currently being covered up by the Chinese government. First, I intend to seduce the viewers with beautiful images in a traditional Chinese aesthetic. Once the viewer is enthralled and desires to learn more, I reveal the dark and corrupted side of the reality in China by directing the viewer to a QR code, which encodes website links that can be read by QR readers and camera phones.
Reid Elem is a Savannah, Georgia based fine art photographer. His series, In Direction, is an investigation into social introversion. A case of voyeur looking at voyeur; A visual documentation of being caught looking and confirmation of our general tendency to look and to be looked at. Elem writes:
‘In Direction’ was inspired by the human condition and the idiosyncrasies of our behavior during the daily commute. As years pass, social introversion casts a shadow over society and culture thus reducing our interaction with one another. This is beautifully displayed within the moving glass house we call the automobile. Once dubbed the “American Freedom Machine,” our cars were an open door to a new and exciting world of travel and adventure. Unfortunately as the modern world progresses and technology further encourages us to keep to ourselves, being out on the road has become an extension of our private space even though we are still within the public domain. People become caught up in the ride and forget the hundreds of people who pass only a few feet away.
Niagara Falls, New York
Jessica Auer is a documentary-style landscape photographer from Montreal. Drawing inspiration from history and archeology, her work is largely concerned the study of cultural sites. From the beaten track to the frontier, Jessica explores places where history and mythology are woven into the landscape, and where contemporary landscape issues emerge.
Jessica is a co-founder and co-director of Galerie Les Territoires in Montréal and teaches photography at Concordia University. She is represented by Patrick Mikhail Gallery in Ottawa. Of this series, Re-creational Spaces, she writes:
‘Since 2004, my fascination with tourism has led me to photograph popular destinations throughout North and South America. Images from this series show how landscape has been preserved, altered or commodified for sightseeing. This on-going project invites the viewer to consider the historical and cultural significance of these places as well question the tourist’s responsibility in observing these sites. Bearing in mind that the tourist industry moderates our understanding of place, I seek provoke reflection on personal experience, cultural authenticity and the collective memory of specific sites.’
Las Vegas, Nevada
Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta
Machu Picchu, Peru
Iguazu National Park, Argentina
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Glacier National Park, British Columbia
Death Valley, California
