Saturday, April 14, 2007

Rough Beauty



Rough Beauty was a project begun in 2003 and published in 2006. Simply stated Rough Beauty is meant to be a photographic documentation of Vidor, Texas.

In my humble opinion, this collection of Dave Anderson’s work is not ground breaking, or earth shattering. This is the kind of work that should have and probably would have disappeared into oblivion if not for all the controversial racial underpinnings. I’m not saying that it’s bad work – it’s not bad, it’s just not new. I suppose one could beg the question ‘Does originality exist?’ Personally, I believe originality does exist and significant work should contain a degree of originality. Rough Beauty is an emulation of Keith Carter and Diane Arbus – and while emulation is acceptable for a student, I feel there comes a time when a professional photographer should make their own mark.

Vidor is only a short distance from where I live. Controversy has surrounded this body of work since its release. I have found the issues raised by the work far more interesting than the work itself. That said, however, not every issue is interesting. Take the issue of racism, for instance…. Yes, this area has had a history of racism, but there have been issues of racism in every part of this country. I raise the question: why Southeast Texas? I really don’t make a connection between the work and the issues of racism anyway. His subject matter doesn’t directly address racism – he chose not to photograph the Ku Klux Klan, so I feel the issue is actually a lack of diverse ethnicity.

I find the ethical dilemmas raised by this work to be the most fascinating issues. He included statements made by the people he photographed. Quotes such as “I was born down thataway ‘bout a mile in a little log cabin. My dad built it with crosscut saws and they put mud in the cracks.” or “We threw grass on the chicken’s grave and were like ‘Why’d he have to die?’” or “I been having to look for a job for a long time.” illuminate the lives of his subjects. My concern here is Anderson has comprised one version of the truth: this is one aspect of Vidor, but this isn’t all of Vidor. This work may be construed for representing a complete depiction of Vidor. In my opinion, Rough Beauty is a very narrow glimpse of an area that deserves more depth and less media hype.

Visit the Rough Beauty webpage...

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Wednesday, April 11, 2007

David Levinthal

Some information on a popular contemporary photographer...

David Levinthal was born in San Francisco in 1949. Levinthal received his B.A. in Studio Art from Stanford University in 1970. He went on to earn a Masters of Fine Arts in Photography from Yale University in 1973 and in 1981 he received a S.M. of Management Science from MIT. He currently lives and works in New York.

He has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions over the years. The most recent solo exhibitions in Texas took place in 2006. Gerald Peters Gallery in Dallas hosted “David Levinthal” and The Menil Collection in Houston hosted “Blackface”. His work has become a part of many public collections both nationally and internationally. Three public collections in Texas include Levinthal’s work: Amon Carter Museum of Fort Worth, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and Museum of Fine Arts of Houston.

Levinthal does not limit himself to creating work only for art’s sake, he also creates commercial pieces. He has photographed for Absolute Vodka, and IBM. He has also collaborated for magazine spreads such as Entertainment Weekly and Wired Magazine.

David Levinthal has had 10 books published, the most recent being Netsuke.

As a child, Levinthal was completely comfortable with the ability to transform his physical environment by any means necessary. This compulsion to alter his environment translates into his method of photographing miniature worlds, which he has created. He creates these worlds by utilizing doll houses and accessories. The figurines he uses are ordered from a company in Germany that specializes in train sets.

Formally, Levinthal’s first concern is the manipulation of space, secondly light. Levinthal treats color as a means to an end. Color only heightens the theatrical sense of drama achieved by the manipulation of light.

Technically, Levinthal uses a 20 x 24 Polaroid camera. I was unable to find any documentation to verify specifically how Levinthal creates his editions. However, a Polaroid camera (complete with an operator) is available for rental. One cost effective method to create editions from a Polaroid would be to create one 20 x 24 Polaroid print, have it scanned and printed as a lambda or light jet print.

Conceptually, Levinthal uses issues that he addresses in his personal life. He is Jewish, so creating a series addressing the Holocaust is one way of exploring his heritage. He has explored cultures different from his own in his series “Blackface” and “Netsuke”. Levinthal addresses American ideals in “Baseball” and “Barbie”. Voyeurism is a conceptual element that consistently reappears. Voyeurism can be found in the series “Modern Romance”, ”American Beauties”, “Desire”, “XXX”, and “Netsuke”. Nostalgia is another popular element in his work. The figurines are in and of themselves a nostalgic component considering the fact the figurines are basically children’s toys. Nostalgic subject matter is found in his series “Wild West”, “Barbie”, and “Baseball”. One might even say “Blackface” and “American Beauties” have a nostalgic ambiance.

Check out his web page: David Levinthal

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