EMERGING ARCHIVES- shauna Caldwell > Exhibition #1
Exhibition #1
GHOST NO 101 by Andy Mattern
(Click on image for larger view)
(Click on image for larger view)
GHOST NO 102 by Andy Mattern
GHOST NO 89 by Andy Mattern
Andy Mattern says, "Thumbing through a box of 19th century portraits, I noticed something surprising on the reverse side — a faint image of a different person, distinct, but not fully visible. What was this ghostly image, and how was it made? These questions led me to read scientific studies by museum conservators, which explain how photographs containing platinum can have this effect — platinum acts as a catalyst, physically altering paper it touches.
If left in direct contact for decades, a platinum portrait has the uncanny ability to make a mirror version of itself — even multiple times, without being depleted. Platinum is still considered the most permanent of all photographic processes, however, it was pushed out of use around World War I because the rare metal was required to make explosives. This destructive ability of platinum is the same power that inadvertently creates ghost images.
Inspired that hidden photographs are reproducing themselves, I have been searching the backs of thousands of old pictures in antique malls, flea markets, and secondhand shops, collecting examples of this unique image type. After three years, I have compiled a sizable archive of different examples. Rather than display these found objects themselves, however, my intention is to follow their lead to make a new kind of portrait, to reconstitute the ghosts. Using traditional photographic techniques — lighting and selective editing — I rephotograph and rework the found images, coaxing the ghosts to the surface.
When I feel they have arrived, I create a new platinum print. This reanimates the cycle, breathing life back into the long-forgotten images and providing them with another chance to reproduce.
Each portrait in this project is both a literal impression and a fiction — a collaboration with history inflected by my own subjectivity. Their fragmentary appearance makes them more evocative and interpretable than the typical pictures we might see from this era. The softness of the ghosts acts as a veil, inviting the viewer to fill in the gaps. We tend to take photographs at face value, accepting them as static documents, as proof that this person existed. But how do we understand portraits that do not sit still, that jump from page to page, leaving their residue behind? What does their activity reveal? Like photography, the ghost images are magic, they are photographs made by other photographs. I see them as a reminder of our flawed attempts at permanence — the things we make, however precious, inevitably take on lives of their own."
Andy Mattern is a visual artist working in the expanded field of photography. His photographs and installations dissect the medium itself, reconfiguring expectations of photography's basic ingredients and conventions. His work is held in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others. His photographs and exhibitions have been reviewed in publications such as ARTFORUM, The New Yorker, Camera Austria, and PHOTONEWS.
Currently, he serves as Associate Professor of Photography at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. He holds an MFA in Photography from the University of Minnesota and a BFA in Studio Art from the University of New Mexico.
IMAGES FOR SALE-
Ghost No. 92
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 101
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 89
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 91
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 96
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 102
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Contact: Andy Mattern
andy@andymattern.com
www.instagram.com/andymattern
www.andymattern.com
If left in direct contact for decades, a platinum portrait has the uncanny ability to make a mirror version of itself — even multiple times, without being depleted. Platinum is still considered the most permanent of all photographic processes, however, it was pushed out of use around World War I because the rare metal was required to make explosives. This destructive ability of platinum is the same power that inadvertently creates ghost images.
Inspired that hidden photographs are reproducing themselves, I have been searching the backs of thousands of old pictures in antique malls, flea markets, and secondhand shops, collecting examples of this unique image type. After three years, I have compiled a sizable archive of different examples. Rather than display these found objects themselves, however, my intention is to follow their lead to make a new kind of portrait, to reconstitute the ghosts. Using traditional photographic techniques — lighting and selective editing — I rephotograph and rework the found images, coaxing the ghosts to the surface.
When I feel they have arrived, I create a new platinum print. This reanimates the cycle, breathing life back into the long-forgotten images and providing them with another chance to reproduce.
Each portrait in this project is both a literal impression and a fiction — a collaboration with history inflected by my own subjectivity. Their fragmentary appearance makes them more evocative and interpretable than the typical pictures we might see from this era. The softness of the ghosts acts as a veil, inviting the viewer to fill in the gaps. We tend to take photographs at face value, accepting them as static documents, as proof that this person existed. But how do we understand portraits that do not sit still, that jump from page to page, leaving their residue behind? What does their activity reveal? Like photography, the ghost images are magic, they are photographs made by other photographs. I see them as a reminder of our flawed attempts at permanence — the things we make, however precious, inevitably take on lives of their own."
Andy Mattern is a visual artist working in the expanded field of photography. His photographs and installations dissect the medium itself, reconfiguring expectations of photography's basic ingredients and conventions. His work is held in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others. His photographs and exhibitions have been reviewed in publications such as ARTFORUM, The New Yorker, Camera Austria, and PHOTONEWS.
Currently, he serves as Associate Professor of Photography at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. He holds an MFA in Photography from the University of Minnesota and a BFA in Studio Art from the University of New Mexico.
IMAGES FOR SALE-
Ghost No. 92
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 101
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 89
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 91
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 96
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Ghost No. 102
15"H x 11" W
Platinum Print
$1300.00 unframed
Edition of 2 + 1AP
Signed on back
Contact: Andy Mattern
andy@andymattern.com
www.instagram.com/andymattern
www.andymattern.com
GHOST NO 91 by Andy Mattern
GHOST NO 92 by Andy Mattern
GHOST NO 96 by Andy Mattern
BROKEN RECORD by Beth Galton
Beth Galton says of her series, "Memory of Absence", "So much of who we are is passed from generation to generation—our genes, our behaviors - molded by our parents and grandparents. My mother’s relationship with her mother was fraught with difficulties and these same dynamics were passed onto me. I’ve spent many years contending with these issues by first becoming overly involved in my mother’s life and then ultimately removing myself.
In 2017, my mother and father - who had not lived together for 50 years by that time - died within three days of each other. After my sister and I inherited my mother’s home, we were startled to find the extent to which she had been hoarding. We discovered her journals, copious letters written to family members and never sent, everyday objects and photographs depicting many family scenes that I have no memory of. A profound sadness combined with these surprising discoveries led to my creating this body of work exploring feelings, memories and even buried memories – all brought to the surface through these revelations.
In this series, Memory of Absence, I combined botanicals and natural materials together with the everyday objects and family photographs in order to convey a sense of memory and loss. The organic and volatile botanicals serve as a reminder of the ever-changing nature of memory and emotions—an unstable and profoundly unreliable process, as fragile as scraps of embroidery as complicated and garbled as tangles of magnetic tape. Text plays a key role as well, her words intertwined with mine.
My creative process begins with composing and photographing a still life of the botanicals together with the objects that I have collected and saved from my mother’s home. I then print out the image, create yet another still life by layering more objects with the print and then re-photograph this composition. Thereby giving a further sense of the complex and layered emotions found within family dynamics."
Beth Galton is a photo-based artist, with an educational background in the natural sciences and three decades of experience as a professional photographer in the editorial and commercial arena. These elements of her history are the lens through which she explores the world.
Collecting objects, allowing time to affect botanical matter, these are the tools Beth uses to construct still life portraits. The stories speak to the cycles of nature, our connection to aging and mortality, and the fragility and resilience of the human experience. As a lifelong learner, Beth uses current technology to help articulate her message. She loves to harness natural light to capture the compositions by using a large format camera and digital back.
Beth’s fine art and professional work have won numerous accolades and been exhibited extensively throughout her career. Several of her personal projects have gained national and international regard.
Beth lives and works in New York City, where she is moved and inspired by the city every day.
https://www.instagram.com/bethgaltonstudio
https://www.bethgaltonfineart.com
In 2017, my mother and father - who had not lived together for 50 years by that time - died within three days of each other. After my sister and I inherited my mother’s home, we were startled to find the extent to which she had been hoarding. We discovered her journals, copious letters written to family members and never sent, everyday objects and photographs depicting many family scenes that I have no memory of. A profound sadness combined with these surprising discoveries led to my creating this body of work exploring feelings, memories and even buried memories – all brought to the surface through these revelations.
In this series, Memory of Absence, I combined botanicals and natural materials together with the everyday objects and family photographs in order to convey a sense of memory and loss. The organic and volatile botanicals serve as a reminder of the ever-changing nature of memory and emotions—an unstable and profoundly unreliable process, as fragile as scraps of embroidery as complicated and garbled as tangles of magnetic tape. Text plays a key role as well, her words intertwined with mine.
My creative process begins with composing and photographing a still life of the botanicals together with the objects that I have collected and saved from my mother’s home. I then print out the image, create yet another still life by layering more objects with the print and then re-photograph this composition. Thereby giving a further sense of the complex and layered emotions found within family dynamics."
Beth Galton is a photo-based artist, with an educational background in the natural sciences and three decades of experience as a professional photographer in the editorial and commercial arena. These elements of her history are the lens through which she explores the world.
Collecting objects, allowing time to affect botanical matter, these are the tools Beth uses to construct still life portraits. The stories speak to the cycles of nature, our connection to aging and mortality, and the fragility and resilience of the human experience. As a lifelong learner, Beth uses current technology to help articulate her message. She loves to harness natural light to capture the compositions by using a large format camera and digital back.
Beth’s fine art and professional work have won numerous accolades and been exhibited extensively throughout her career. Several of her personal projects have gained national and international regard.
Beth lives and works in New York City, where she is moved and inspired by the city every day.
https://www.instagram.com/bethgaltonstudio
https://www.bethgaltonfineart.com
COUNTING CANDIES by Beth Galton
FOLLOW YOUR PATH by Beth Galton
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
I SEE MYSELF REFLECTED by Beth Galton
LIFE WITH FATHER by Beth Galton
PASSED FROM GENERATION by Beth Galton
MOTHER PEARL (UNTITLED IV) by Brianna Dowd
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
Brianna Dowd says of her series, "Mother Pearl", "Mother Pearl is an exploration of a connection I feel to a woman who I have never known. While she and I have never met face to face, we are far from strangers. We are connected through lineage and bloodline; she is a part of who I am. She is beautiful, full of grace, and has a smile that lights up a room. Our relationship is unique, as I can engage with her only through
photographs, momentos, and dreams. Her life's story is a mystery to me, as I have little to no information to pull from. I am left with mere imaginations of this woman, who she is, and her Impact on my life. This woman is my grandmother, Margaret Dowd... Mother Pearl.
This body of work is a projection of images recording my innermost desires of what my relationship would have been like with my deceased grandmother, had we been afforded the chance to meet.In this series I have taken a variety of constructivist approaches to photography by staging memories I long to have created with her. Found photographs, personal objects belonging to my grandmother, and pearls are used to emphasize the closeness of her presence felt around and within me, as well as handwritten letters addressed to her, outpouring my emotions as I travel on this journey to know her deeper."
Brianna Dowd is an TN based artist whose background is in fine art photography and graphic design. She is a 2017 graduate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro obtaining a Bachelors of Fine Art degree, and is a 2023 graduate from the Savannah College of Art & Design obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Brianna is also the founder and CEO of Butterfly Visuals, LLC, a media company providing quality service to creative and goal oriented individuals in the areas of photography, graphic design, website design, promotional design, branding materials, social media content, and more.
Her photographic work is centered around themes of memory, loss, and identity. She utilizes the medium of photography as a means of storytelling, and as one to both convey and evoke emotion, and encourage interaction and dialogue with viewers.
https://www.briannadowd.com/
photographs, momentos, and dreams. Her life's story is a mystery to me, as I have little to no information to pull from. I am left with mere imaginations of this woman, who she is, and her Impact on my life. This woman is my grandmother, Margaret Dowd... Mother Pearl.
This body of work is a projection of images recording my innermost desires of what my relationship would have been like with my deceased grandmother, had we been afforded the chance to meet.In this series I have taken a variety of constructivist approaches to photography by staging memories I long to have created with her. Found photographs, personal objects belonging to my grandmother, and pearls are used to emphasize the closeness of her presence felt around and within me, as well as handwritten letters addressed to her, outpouring my emotions as I travel on this journey to know her deeper."
Brianna Dowd is an TN based artist whose background is in fine art photography and graphic design. She is a 2017 graduate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro obtaining a Bachelors of Fine Art degree, and is a 2023 graduate from the Savannah College of Art & Design obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Brianna is also the founder and CEO of Butterfly Visuals, LLC, a media company providing quality service to creative and goal oriented individuals in the areas of photography, graphic design, website design, promotional design, branding materials, social media content, and more.
Her photographic work is centered around themes of memory, loss, and identity. She utilizes the medium of photography as a means of storytelling, and as one to both convey and evoke emotion, and encourage interaction and dialogue with viewers.
https://www.briannadowd.com/
MOTHER PEARL (UNTITLED VI) by Brianna Dowd
MOTHER PEARL (UNTITLED XI) by Brianna Dowd
20190724--13-19-08 by Debbie Warren
Debra Warren says, "As a mostly self taught photographer, I use photography to connect to the world around me and to capture those moment when I am most alive, selecting what works for the emotion and reality of that single moment. Photography stretches my analytical mind and challenges my creative soul. It excites me and calms me and broadens my view of the world.
Over the years I have benefitted from the guidance of some wonderful teachers and mentors and as a way to add a rich and new dimension to my work, in the last few years I’ve begun working with Alternative Photographic processes and enjoy printing in Gum Bichromate, Platinum and Palladium, Cyanotype and combinations of these methods. I have had the opportunity to exhibit my work on a limited basis, including one solo show in 2019.
Regarding this series, Dear Faye, when clearing out my mother-in-law’s personal items following her death, I came upon many albums of old photographs and a box of letters she received from my father-in-law before they were married. Reading these letters and seeing these photos presented a completely different view of my in-laws. They reflected a young couple in love and enjoying life which was not the way I had perceived them in my years knowing them. It made me think about the different people we are at various stages of our lives. There was a tenderness and joy reflected in these documents that I felt compelled to conserve. These images are printed in Cyanotype over Platinum/Palladium.
www.debrawarrenphotography.com
www.instagram.com/dmw0529
Over the years I have benefitted from the guidance of some wonderful teachers and mentors and as a way to add a rich and new dimension to my work, in the last few years I’ve begun working with Alternative Photographic processes and enjoy printing in Gum Bichromate, Platinum and Palladium, Cyanotype and combinations of these methods. I have had the opportunity to exhibit my work on a limited basis, including one solo show in 2019.
Regarding this series, Dear Faye, when clearing out my mother-in-law’s personal items following her death, I came upon many albums of old photographs and a box of letters she received from my father-in-law before they were married. Reading these letters and seeing these photos presented a completely different view of my in-laws. They reflected a young couple in love and enjoying life which was not the way I had perceived them in my years knowing them. It made me think about the different people we are at various stages of our lives. There was a tenderness and joy reflected in these documents that I felt compelled to conserve. These images are printed in Cyanotype over Platinum/Palladium.
www.debrawarrenphotography.com
www.instagram.com/dmw0529
20190724--13-34-07 by Debbie Warren
20190724--14-43-08 by Debbie Warren
ALEXANDER WAS SENT TO THE ATTIC by Diane Fenster
EVELYN HAD A CHOSEN BABY by Diane Fenster
GRANDMOTHER LUCINDA RECEIVED VISIONS OF ANOTHER WORLD by Diane Fenster
Diane Fenster says of her series, "OUT OF THE PAST: Portraits of an Imaginary Family", "This work deals with issues of personal and manufactured memory by creating an imaginary ancestry. I am adopted and have no connection to my biological heredity which has enveloped me with a field of questions my entire life.
Since early adulthood I have collected portraits of strangers that have appealed to me and have displayed them wherever I have lived to give a sense of surrogate family. For this series I am rephotographing the antique painted tintypes in my collection and naming them and giving them places in my imaginary family tree. The visual distortion of the images acts as a metaphor for time and memory, like looking at the light of a dead star. All effects are done in camera, not by using any software programs.
I view myself as an alchemist, using alternative processes, toy cameras, and digital tools to delve into fundamental human conditions and issues. My work is literary and emotional, full of symbolism and multiple layers of meaning with a style that marries photography with evocative and fragmented imagery.
My work (exhibited since 1990); first received notice during the era of early experimentations with digital imaging and has appeared in numerous publications. I have been a guest lecturer at many seminars and conferences.
My work has been internationally exhibited and is part of museum, corporate and private collections. Recent honors include being selected for DODHO Magazine's Top 100 portrait photographers in 2023. Selected for the Open Program HEAD ON Photo Festival, Australia, Top 200 Photolucida Critical Mass 2022. Shortlisted for The Royal Photographic Society's Internation exhibit 164. Part of #ICPconcerned exhibit and book.
www.lensculture.com/diane-fenster.com
www.instagram.com/dianefenster
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Since early adulthood I have collected portraits of strangers that have appealed to me and have displayed them wherever I have lived to give a sense of surrogate family. For this series I am rephotographing the antique painted tintypes in my collection and naming them and giving them places in my imaginary family tree. The visual distortion of the images acts as a metaphor for time and memory, like looking at the light of a dead star. All effects are done in camera, not by using any software programs.
I view myself as an alchemist, using alternative processes, toy cameras, and digital tools to delve into fundamental human conditions and issues. My work is literary and emotional, full of symbolism and multiple layers of meaning with a style that marries photography with evocative and fragmented imagery.
My work (exhibited since 1990); first received notice during the era of early experimentations with digital imaging and has appeared in numerous publications. I have been a guest lecturer at many seminars and conferences.
My work has been internationally exhibited and is part of museum, corporate and private collections. Recent honors include being selected for DODHO Magazine's Top 100 portrait photographers in 2023. Selected for the Open Program HEAD ON Photo Festival, Australia, Top 200 Photolucida Critical Mass 2022. Shortlisted for The Royal Photographic Society's Internation exhibit 164. Part of #ICPconcerned exhibit and book.
www.lensculture.com/diane-fenster.com
www.instagram.com/dianefenster
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I AM THE CHOSEN BABY by Diane Fenster
MY SISTER SAW HER BREATH by Diane Fenster
UNCLE LUCIEN DREAMS OF PARIS by Diane Fenster
EMERGING ARCHIVES HOME:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell
FIRST PLACE:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/first-place-marissa-stewart/1
SECOND PLACE:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/second-place-traci-marie-lee-home-come-in-and-see/1
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/honorable-mentions-brianna-dowd-mother-pearl-untitled-iv-beth-galton-follow-the-path/1
BEST SERIES:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/best-series-marissa-nicole-stewart/1
EXHIBITION #1
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/exhibition-1/1
EXHIBITION #2:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/exhibition-2/1
EMERGING ARCHIVES HOME:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell
FIRST PLACE:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/first-place-marissa-stewart/1
SECOND PLACE:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/second-place-traci-marie-lee-home-come-in-and-see/1
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/honorable-mentions-brianna-dowd-mother-pearl-untitled-iv-beth-galton-follow-the-path/1
BEST SERIES:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/best-series-marissa-nicole-stewart/1
EXHIBITION #1
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/exhibition-1/1
EXHIBITION #2:
https://nyphotocurator.com/emerging-archives-shauna-caldwell/exhibition-2/1
