three inspirations

Below is a photograph by William Christenberry, I believe titled "Red Barn". His images of southern architecture, or vernacular were my inspiration for a number of photographs I took during my junior year at MICA. He photographs always straight on and returns year after year to take the picture from the same vantage point even when the buildings may have been completely covered in kudzu or fallen down. While I don't have 20 years yet to embark on this kind of project I love his perception of time and the way the return voyage allows us to see it.



Hiroshi Sugimoto's long exposure images of entire movies are of a similar vein. We see in one single instance the combination of an entire film. The film becomes completely blown out white and the residual light illuminates the theater. Sugimoto's perception and tricks of film and time I find incredibly alluring.




The third image is from a series titles "Deep South" by Sally Mann. She uses the wet collodion process to create her photographs coupled with broken cameras and a complete lack of interest in crispness or clarity. There is something beautiful in allowing the chaos to reclaim the photograph. She intentionally develops her prints poorly in order to allow room for chance accidents. I found her photos to be liberating to me in this way, but wish I had the capabilities to use her process (It's kind of toxic/flammable).