The American West Portraits

"Chris Perez" 16" x 20" (40cm x 50cm) Black Glass Ambrotype - Denver, Colorado, USAMaking photographs, for me, is sometimes a painful and difficult ordeal. It creates anxiety in my life. When you want to see what's in your head on glass and metal plates, and can't quite get over the last hurddle, it can be very stressful. I’m in one of those times now, but working through it.

I’ve been making 16” x 20” (40cm x 50cm) Wet Collodion portraits (currently titled, "The American West Portraits"). I started planning this project almost 18 months ago by ordering a 20” x 24” camera, it's been non-stop ever since. And now, I’m struggling to get the look and feel on these large plates that I want. It’s 99% technical mostly a lens issue. I need a lens that will cover the plate and allow me to compose the image in a way that I’m happy with it. It’s more difficult than it sounds.

Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem. I would have plenty of time to resolve any technical or aesthetic issue I might have. However, I’ve got an exhibition opening on March 14, 2012 in Paris, France at Centre-Iris Gallery. I find myself anxious and preoccupied regarding how the images will look for the exhibition. I see them in my mind, I just need to get them on the glass and metal! 

Having been in Denver for six months doesn’t help me either. I need time to build connections and find the right people to photograph. And now it’s winter, the days are short. At best, there’s about three hours of good light to work with. I will say that there would be no better place to be than in Denver for light this time of year, when it’s shining, the bright blue sky is amazing. It means that the sitter I want to photograph must come to my studio within a certain window of time (1000 – 1300). That gets complicated and stressful, too.

These issues are forcing me to rethink how I work and what I work with. And how "exact" things have to be. I have a “King’s problem” and I understand that. I keep thinking, maybe in the end, I will make a far better body of work than if I had a year to work on it. We’ll see. 

This is a "working idea" - these will collect in my studio and I'll look at them over the next couple of months.

Here's a "taste" of what the show will be made up of - all 16" x 20" (40cm x 50cm) Wet Collodion plates.

The Last Day of 2010

Sometimes we find ourselves in a place where everything is ending. Or at least it feels that way.

It’s a bitter-sweet thing. I’m in one of those places right now and wondering how it all happened so fast and what will fill the “hole” on the other side of the pond. While endings can be sad, they can also open the door to opportunities; and that’s where I have to keep my head, or at least try.

Today, I’m reflecting on leaving Europe after five years, Summer’s evolution into adulthood (the loss of “my little girl”) and just the overall loss of what I know now – my life – if you will. The year is ending, too. That’s what started me writing. I thought I could use the last day of the year as a metaphor for my life right now.

I was in my studio/darkroom yesterday and I was trying to devise a plan of where to start to break it down. It made me sad. In a lot of ways I don’t want to go back to America. In other ways, I can’t wait. It’s a roller coaster of emotions, to say the least. I walked out of my darkroom full of anxiety and didn’t touch a thing. I need to get in there today and start packing!  

We’ve met and befriended some of the finest human beings on this big blue ball (you know who you are) here. Europe and the Europeans have been very good to me and my family. This has been, without question, the best part of my life. The people, the experiences and the personal and professional growth has been amazing. I’ve learned more about myself and about life in these five years than the previous forty. I hope I can take some of that back with me and am able to share it without sounding arrogant or condescending. Americans could learn a lot from Europeans, I know I have.

I’ve been treated like a king here. And I’ve been respected and acknowledged for my work. I’m afraid that I will lose that returning to the States. No one knows me and no one cares what I’ve done here. It feels like I’ll be starting over in a lot of ways.  I’m okay with that; I just don’t want to keep taking one step forward and then three back.

I have to thank Centre-Iris Gallery (Olivier and Pierre) and all of the fine Parisians that supported me this year. What a wonderful experience! Merci beacoup! To have a gallery in Paris that supports you like Centre-Iris is overwhelming. I’m very grateful and will return every two years with new and exciting work to show Paris. A big thank you to our friend, Benoît Boucherot, too! He made a wonderful documentary about me (see the previous post). 

To every studio, cultural center, art school and individual artists in Europe (Barcelona, Reus, Gothenburg, Budapest, Dresden, Cologne, Vienna, Glasgow, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, and many, many more) that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and teaching at (and there have been a lot of them); thank you! You’ve allowed me to grow and taught me more than I taught you. I’m eternally indebted to the hundreds of people that I’ve had the opportunity to meet, teach and befriend; thank you! I wish I could stay another five years.

Summer and Jesse just spent three weeks with us. They flew back yesterday and are back in America today (31 December 2010). I was able to get them in the head brace for a plate during a private workshop with Bernd Radtke. We had fun; we went to Amsterdam, Belgium (Lummen) and Aachen (Germany) to see friends and have some fun.

I miss my life here already. 

Summer Joy Jacobson - December 18, 2010 Viernheim, Germany 5" x 7" Black Glass Ambrotype

Jesse Vriens - December 18, 2010 Viernheim, Germany Half Plate Clear Glass Ambrotype

Exhibitions: Closing Out 2010

I’ll  be in two exhibitions in August/September and then one in October/November. The first is at ArtReactor in/near Washington D.C. the advert reads:

“I am pleased to announce the opening of the Whole Plate Project exhibition. The Whole Plate Project is an exhibit centered around photographers working in the whole plate format, the original photographic format (6.5 by 8.5 inches), and its historical and contemporary resonances. The show features work by Quinn Jacobson, Diane Maher, Chris Rini, Denise Ross, David White, Heather Wetzel, Barry Schmetter and Scott Davis. Works featured include cyanotypes, wet plate, silver gelatin and platinum/palladium prints. The opening reception will be Friday, August 6, from 7-9 PM. The exhibit space will be open weekends, otherwise by appointment.
Art Reactor is a new gallery/workshop/studio space in the Hyattsville arts corridor, located at 5614 Baltimore Avenue, Hyattsville, Maryland. For more information about the space, go to http://artreactor.org”

I’ve sent this triptych over for the show:

The second show is at LightBox Photographic Gallery. It’s a show of “alternative” work and processes. I have one piece in it:

 
"Judasbaum" - Viernheim, Germany

And one more exhibition at the same gallery, Lightbox Photographic, called, “The 2nd Annual Spooky Show” (October/November). They asked for these pieces:

 "Jewish DNA"

 
"The Monster’s Suicide"

 
"German Man With An Axe"

With that, it closes out my 2010 exhibition list. 2011 will be a new year, new work and a new exhibitions!

A New Chapter Begins...Now!

It seems I've closed one chapter of my life and am ready for the next one.

As I look back over the last year (2009/2010), I see what I've done and I'm amazed and incredibly satisfied. Having these kinds of opportunities (Paris exhibition, Archer Project, etc.) is a rare and wonderful thing.

Henry David Thoreau said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". For the most part, I would agree with that. They're desperate because they are clueless about their purpose. The trick is to find your passion and pursue it with everything you have. Take risks, push your boundaries, and never quit. Passion is what we need more of - and I don't mean passion as in fundamental religions or passions that hurt people. I'm talking about a personal passion - it's always a positive thing, an asset to society, not a liability. Finding out why you are here and what you're supposed to be doing with your life is what we need to be asking ourselves. For the past 10 or 15 years, maybe more, I've been preoccupied with this idea and have done my best to be honest in its pursuit.

How do you define success? Happiness? Satisfaction? Is it relative? I'm not sure. Regardless of the definition, at this moment in my life I would have to mark 9/10 in all of the categories. I feel accomplished, appreciated and am very happy. Over the last few years in Europe, I've met some of the most kind and wonderful people in the world. Every color, nationality, race and religion - all beautiful, interesting people that helped me get to this point. I can't thank them enough for the difference they've made in my life.

I've talked a lot about stepping out of the spotlight. I'm beginning that process now. Some of it will be a little bit sad for me. I'll miss doing some of the things that I've been doing for a long time. However, it's time to move on and experience the next chapter/adventure of my life. I know it's time.

My exhibition in Paris (Centre Iris) just ended. It was successful beyond words. I'm eternally grateful and thankful for Pierre, Olivier, Benoît, William, Patrick, Bruno, and all of the students in my workshops; almost thirty of you! I would also like to thank all of the sitters that came for portraits. I ended up making almost 175 portraits of Parisians over the last few months. Talk about a body of work! I heard some of the kindest comments and had the honor of making portraits of some very important people in the world of photography. Merci beacoup! It was my honor and pleasure. And finally, Jeanne and Summer, I love you! What an adventure! I could have never, ever done this without you! Hugs, kisses, and someday we'll be having some more Chinese ravioli and Japanese Sushi in Paris!

There are some wonderful things ahead for me (art/photographically). I'm looking forward to sharing them when the time is right. Summer will be starting her studies in August and we (Jeanne and I) may have some big changes ahead, too. We'll see. For right now, let's say the operative word is: CHANGE. Change is good. Change presents opportunity. Don't fear change.

One more thing; I wanted to share some images I'm sending to Washington D.C. for an exhibition. This is Benoît, a Parisian artist and filmmaker. I call this, "Three Portraits in Paris: Chopin's Left Hand". You get it, I don't need to explain it. However, the Parisian model with black eyes may be a different story...

 
"Three Portraits in Paris: Chopin's Left Hand", Triptych - Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotypes

 "Parisian Model With Black Eyes" - Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotype

This is Gwen, she was the sweetest lady you could meet. I made two plates of her, I kept this one. Update: I gave this plate to a friend, Joe Baltz, a photographer and teacher in Chicago, IL.

If you would like to see a small sample of the portraits I made in Paris, you can go here. Please forgive the low quality of the images, they were “snapped” with my small digital point and shoot. There are about 150 I never got snaps of!

French 3 Television

France 3 TV's piece about Quinn's exhibition in Paris at Centre Iris Gallery.

France 3 TV just aired this piece this week. The spot is about my exhibiton and work in the Wet Plate Collodion process. They also show a lot of images from my exhibition in Paris at the Centre Iris Gallery. It's a really good piece - very "top shelf". I'm very pleased. Enjoy!