Finalists FAA « Photography Open Salon

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Anthony Carr, UK
The supplied images are a selection of long exposure pinhole photographs from various portfolio series, taken over the past three years in a number of locations from Vancouver, Canada to Milton Keynes, England. Images 1 and 2 are taken from the series Animal Approach, Mission Creek, North Vancouver, Canada. These pinhole photographs depict a neighbourhood creek on the foothills of Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver. Taken during an extended trip to Canada in 2010, cameras were installed at the bottom of the gorge in one of Vancouver’s many creeks which gently run between the gardens of the north shore suburbs. Discovered and enjoyed mostly by the younger residents who by adolescence are terrorizing the malls, the creeks represent a personal impermanence. Sites of childish play and imagination, of den building and adventure, are all too quickly forgotten. Images 3, 4 and 5 are from two photographic series undertaken in two grandiose English houses, both once private estates which have now been opened up to the public. 24,7,17 (3 and 4) and A Burghley Season (5) represent 17 and 28 weeks of daily activity at Cumberland Lodge in Great Windsor Park, a busy conference centre ‘for discussions aimed at the betterment of society’ and Burghley House, an Elizabethan charitable trust estate in rural Lincolnshire. Homemade pinhole cameras were positioned discretely above head height throughout the public areas of the houses, ‘openly’ gazing from pseudo CCTV viewpoints. The ensuing photographs depict the solid fabric of the grand rooms with much of the movement of staff and visitors remaining invisible. Appearing as a blur, the trace of human activity can be seen in the regular shifting of furniture or in routine cleaning and table laying. From their unique perspective, the cameras formed a network of eyes, continually watching, never blinking. However, whilst everything was recorded, much evidence of activity is absent. Months mirror moments. These long exposure photographs not only literally show the passing of time, but also comment on how England’s cultural and historical heritage has had to adapt to survive in the 21st century. Image 6 is from The Forgotten Quarter: An Obscured Camera Production, a series of photographs taken in 2010 documenting Campbell Park, a city centre green space in Milton Keynes, England. Again, homemade pinhole cameras were distributed throughout a relatively unknown and almost completely ignored area of the park. Left open, exposing continuously 24 hours a day for some 27 ½ days, the photographs show the strange characteristics of this non space. Milton Keynes is one of Britain’s largest new town developments and was at one stage the most rapidly expanding of our urban sprawls. However whilst the city has been growing and changing at a furious pace this small pocket of prime land has remained almost entirely un-touched. A half finished space, waiting to be developed, complete with a network of roads and a roundabout but with no means of access. carr_anthony_CV


Britain Bright, UK Spirit Collection The Spirit Collection is a project documenting the collection of that name in the Herbarium at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. The flowers are preserved in fluid because they are specimens that cannot be pressed—they have a great scientific value, but they are also, in a way, ghosts of flowers. These specimens belie the natural transience of flora; they retain the lush beauty of their blooming past, but they are altogether transformed. These images create a loose portrait of the Spirit Collection through a series of still lives that blend the visual lushness of the flora with the intense focus and the minute level of inspection allowed by a large format camera. I spent a great deal of time with the individual specimens, and found them, some exotic, some familiar, each absorbing in its own way. There an important element of history to the collection, as well as a human touch and a sense of the passage of time: the hand-written labels in some of the jars date back to the 1880s, and contrast with the modern typed or printed information. These flowers, then, are themselves the opposite of transience in that they have not been allowed to complete their natural, short life, but they have also observed, from their cold scientific pedestal the comings and goings of generations of human scientists and keepers. Science evolves, as does nature; still these specimens sit in their neat rows of labeled jars, frozen in time, dead but never to decay. Brittain Bright PhD Art candidate, Goldsmiths, University of London. 2005-2007. Slade School of Fine Art, London. MFA, Fine Art Media. 1996-2000. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. AB Cum Laude, English and American Literature and Languages. Exhibitions 2010. This is not The Chelsea Flower Show. 14 July-11 September, Diemar/Noble Photography, London. 2009. Blue. 8 December-9 January, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT. Floral Photography. 19 November-18 December, Western Kentucky Botanical Garden, Owensboro, KY. 2008. Debutante, 6-14 March, La Viande Gallery, London. Something Between Nothing, 20 February, 76 Kingsland Road, London. 2007. CHASE Charity Fine Art Exhibition, 7 November, Royal College of Art. MA/MFA Summer Exhibition, 6-13 July, Slade School of Fine Art. Turtle, 19-23 March, Woburn Studios, Slade School of Fine Art. 2006. Descubrimientos, PHoto España, 4 June-2 July, Matadero, Madrid. Publications Cluster Arts Magazine: Act two, November 2008. “Coming up Fast.” Royal Photographic Society Journal, November 2007. Awards Finalist, London Photographic Association Still Life 4 competition, 2008. Honorable Mention, PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris, 2007. Finalist, Descubrimientos (New Discoveries), PHoto España 2006. Conference Presentations “Detection and the City: Sherlock Holmes as a Londoner”, Literary London 2010, July 7-9, University of London. “The Aesthetic of the Crime Scene Photograph”, Seminar in Visual Culture: The Art of Murder, Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies, School of Advanced Study, university of London.


Rihards Vītols, Latvia Ainava 01 Resycled nature I tuked foto of poluted landscapes in Latvia. I colected paper form those places. I recyled paper and made a new one. For each place was their paper. Then I coat ryceled paper with liquid photo emulsion and made pictures. My goal was to get abstract picture which makes you think not to admire it. And I`m 99% sure thet I reach my goal. Ainava 01 – Is in Riga, near Airport. Biography (Optional): In 2009. I graduate Rigas Design and art high school, Decorative sculpture programm Now I`m stady in University of Liepaja, New Media Art 1. year student Publication: Dizaina studija, May – june 2009 Kurzemes PULSS, December 2010 Exibition: 2010 Iweek, Liepaja 2010 Pauze, Liepaja

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Bojan Salaj, Slovenia Reconstruction of View The starting point for the project Reconstruction of View was the question, how to show various changes that shaped our view on the landscape/s from the early 19th Century up to the present day. I’m especially interested in the history of photography and visual art since the development of the medium in the middle of the 19th century; from the chemical-physical processes to contemporary digital technology, which allows us complete control over image through sophisticated computer programs for processing photographs. “A View from Šmarna gora”, the work which I’m sending, is just an example for the whole project. In mid-19th century, Marko Pernhart (Slovenian landscape painter) painted this panoramic view near capitol Ljubljana. In 1995 I’ve reproduced Pernhart’s painting for the archives of the National Gallery in Ljubljana, where I’m working as a museum photographer. In 2011, I’ve made a photograph from the same point of view of the same landscape. Using digital technology I’ve merged the two photographs (images from 1885 and 2011) to create new image that is witnessing of various changes in the landscape, while considering the past 150 years of geographical and social history. In the project Reconstruction of View I’m using classical colour film and digital technology, so the project is also meant as a reflection on the history of technological development and changes of the medium. More on Bojan Salaj at http://www.photon.si/gb/authors.asp?SiteID=207&UID=89

Dmitry Bobrov, Russia A Record of Moments in the 21st Century This series portrays the ephemerality of political relationships between nations, a period in history, and of nature. The first photograph is a record of a woman and her beauty in 2011. It is also a record of a Japanese woman in a Russian house, in 2011. The second photograph is a record of a cherry orchard, in which the long awaited blossoms of 2010 bloomed so radiantly and elegantly for three days. The rain washed off their color and petals shed tumultuously, as if they were tears. Or a woman’s youth. The third photograph symbolizes a moment in which a person makes a first step forward, between fear of the unknown and hope. The last photograph is of goodness, grace, and beauty that never changes. Cities change, moments swiftly slip by, appearances change, and politics change, but some things never change. All of the photographs were taken in my everyday life, in the 21st century, and printed by hand on French watercolor paper with a technique that was used in Europe in the 19th century.

Judith Lyons, UK
For the last three years I have been working without a camera, producing photographic images which combine traditional analogue and contemporary digital processes. In doing so, my aim is to produce work which invites the viewer to question both the nature of the photographic process itself and their relationship with the natural world. In A Different Nature unique photograms reveal the fragile internal structures of plants and flowers which are not visible to the human eye. In Meditation on a Spring Garden, photograms of spring leaves have been scanned, replicated, transformed and recombined to produce geometric forms reminiscent of Buddhist Mandala. The circular images reflect my interest in the natural cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth and seek to reveal the beauty to be found within natural, plant forms.

I am a practicising photographic artist and a graduate of both the London College of Communication (BA (Hons) Photography: First Class) and Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design. My work demonstrates an engagement with the natural cycle of birth, growth, decay, death and rebirth.


Magnus Stark, USA The Innocent Bystander Dilemma Statement In this on-going project, I start with the simple premise of creating something new – something I have not seen before; something which surprises me. I seek to create images which have the power to provoke and therefore illuminate the unknown, the esoteric. What happens when one explores the very fringes of photography? What happens when one embarks on an alchemical journey which literally breaks down the definition of what contemporary photography is known to be? By creating images without a camera, light, lenses or enlargers. I allow images to form organically through the interaction of time, chance and the subconscious mind. Process Beginning with a piece of 4”x5” Black & White Polaroid film, I put my camera aside and work with the film directly. Like a chemist in a lab, I experiment with the raw film by sometimes treating it with a variety of common organic substances, before exposing it to extreme elements. What happens to film if you pop it in the microwave? Submerge it in a hottub? Stick it in the freezer? And what happens if you do that for an hour, a week, a month or a year? Then, as I scan the processed film into my computer, I witness the extraordinary: the Black and White film has picked up color – astonishing color. And… it seems to have captured an image. Perhaps that image was there always, lying dormant until this very moment. Perhaps it was waiting to be awoken, waiting to be discovered. Or perhaps it is not there at all. Some images are converted back to Black & White and given a “Selenium/Brown” tone. Others live most robustly in full color. The final image is printed on 100% rag paper via an inkjet printer using archival pigment inks. This body of work is printed in an edition of 9 plus 2 APs. Prints are available in 30”x40”, 17”x22” or 81/2”x11”. Only a total of 9 prints of each image are made. Prints are titled, numbered and signed on verso. Magnus Stark RESUME Magnus Stark (b. Sweden) 99 S. Raymond Avenue, #504 Pasadena, CA 91105 626/674 0942 [email protected] www.magnusstark.net EDUCATION BA Communications, University of Washington 1982 SOLO EXHIBITIONS New Work, 1215 Project Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2011 The innocent bystander dilemma, Crown Peak Software, Culver City, Los Angeles, CA 2009 The innocent bystander dilemma, HAUS Gallery, Pasadena, CA, 2009 Castle Green, Pasadena Public Library 2008 West, University of Washington 1982 GROUP EXHIBITIONS Photo National 2011: A Survey of Contemporary Photography, University of Maine Museum of Art, 2011. Curators: Brian Clamp, Clampart & George Klnghorn, UMMA DEEP, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, 2011. Curator: Grace Kook-Anderson, Laguna Art Museum Pacific Resonance, MOPLA, 2011 9×12 Works, Ferencvarosi Gallery, Budapest, Hungary, 2011 TRANSMUTATION, Loft 204 Gallery, Claremont, CA 2011 Snap to Grid, LACDA, Los Angeles, CA 2010 TECHNORGANIC, OBJCT Gallery, Claremont, CA 2010 Top 40, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA 2010 Off the Wall, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside CA 2009 A&I Group show, web gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2008 Tools, Castle Green, Pasadena, CA 2008 Camera Works, Louis Stern/APA, Los Angeles, CA 2006 Out of the Dark, Photo Impact Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1992 Group Show, Craig Krull Gallery, Los Angeles CA 1989 COMPETITIONS Gold Award. Color Magazine Single Image Contest, 2011 Black & White Portfolio Contest, B & W Magazine, 2010 Individual Artist’s Grant, Pasadena Arts and Culture Commission, Pasadena, CA 2008 PUBLICATIONS Color Magazine Photo Metro Black & White Magazine Architecture Magazine Los Angeles Sunday Times Magazine The Arroyo Magazine

Carole Romaya, 28 Views of the Moon

This is a series of 28 sunlight-stencilled envelopes(photograms) featuring different images of the Moon. These images come from variety of scientific and Fine Art sources as well as personal observation. Sources included in this series are NASA, Lick Observatory, Galileo, Ansel Adams, Leonardo da Vinci and Hokusai. I had been looking at a mix of scientific and fine art sources of the moon, and increasingly personal observation, and was fascinated at the thought of all the people throughout history who have devoted time to observing the moon. The title 28 Views of the Moon is an homage to 36 Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai. CRcv



Laura Medler, UK Study For Madam Bouj (detail) When The Bough Breaks (images 1-8)

All the submitted images were made using a Mamiya C3 twin lens camera modified to facilitate the transmission of an entire roll of 120 film exposed in a single continuous thirty-second take. Subject, camera (mounted on a tripod) and film are all in constant motion throughout the duration of the exposure. The lateral movement of the film through the camera is simultaneously accompanied by horizontal or vertical camera pans at variable speeds and arcs, which mirror the behaviour of the body in motion and constructs a performative relationship between camera and subject. It is the triple interplay of variable movements by film, camera and subject that lead to the transfiguration observable in the images, where a single figure can be distorted, extruded, fragmented or repeated, whilst the background is similarly transformed. There is no digital manipulation of the image. PORTFOLIO 1 These images are from the series When the Bough Breaks which seek to explore the physical / psychological alterations in the female body / psyche during its rite of passage at puberty from childhood innocence to adult awareness. Using my unique process that transforms a body in motion, I used the device of a swing as an apparatus of lifelong appeal to envisage this transitory period. The camera pans up and down or back and forth across the subject sailing through the air, the resulting continuous images transgressing the boundaries of conventional framing (the whole roll of film in effect becoming a singular frame), from which details are then selected to invite a narrative reading. PORTFOLIO 2 This extended panoramic image captures the transient event of a performance for the camera, which records the subject standing unclothed in front of a black backdrop and drawing around the outline of the body with a piece of white chalk – crouching, bending and stretching to reach its extremities, then returning to the starting point (the feet) before standing upright again and walking out of the field of vision before the film runs out, allowing the final part of the image to map the residual chalk drawing alone on the black backdrop – a memento of a prior existence like that of an absent body at a crime scene. Throughout, the subject moves within the confines of a fixed position, whilst the camera continuously pans back and forth, registering it on the film as a repeating frieze in a developing continuum that charts the body through the passage of time of the life cycle. PORTFOLIO 3 This performance, in contrast, depicts an anonymous male with his back turned towards the viewer whilst spray painting a life-size image of a heart directly onto the surface of a white photographic backdrop. Again, the camera continually pans back and forth across the subject throughout the duration of the performed action, registering the body as a repeating frieze but this time with the initial part of the image showing the greater degree of anamorphic compression, pulsing like a racing heart-beat that slows down when its signified image emerges. Before existing the stage, the final action of the performer is to stand back and reflect on his handiwork, and in so doing he physically dissects the symbol he has just created, a simultaneous act of construction and destruction which points to the impermanence and often fleeting nature of attachment. PORTFOLIO 4 This image explores the idea of a synthesis between the exterior and the interior of the female body in its role as creator at the height of its most dramatic change during pregnancy. A careful choreography between subject and camera results in the passage of time being mapped across the image as a forming physical bodily extension, which references the umbilical cord of the unborn. medler_laura_CV