Artist Statement
Gary Briechle makes portraits of his family and friends in the small towns and rugged terrain that hug the Maine coast. Briechle photographs using large-format cameras and the wet-plate collodion process. He works with a portable darkroom on location –– in the driveways, living rooms and backyards of his subjects, deliberately forgoing the predictability of the studio. When making a photograph he hopes for an image, which is something other than he intended. He says of his work: “the tension between the demands of the process and the demands of the moment make each successful image more a gift given, not a photograph taken.”

Briechle’s portraits span the decades of life from newborns to elderly. Similarly his images cover the gamut from rich darkness to delicate highlights and sharp detail to fading focus. Brenton Hamilton writes, “Gary’s images are caught between two worlds, one that is mortal and wounded and another beautiful and luminous.”

Artists Bio
Having been a sculptor for many years, Gary Briechle has an appreciation for surfaces and materials. His non-photographic work can be found in the Jersey City Museum, The Hunterdon Museum of Art, and the New Jersey State Museum. Briechle has been working with photography for 13 years but continues to be drawn to textures and much of his photographic work, layers the intricacies of skin with the blemishes inherent to wet-plate collodion. Briechle’s photographs are represented by the Catherine Edleman Gallery, http://bit.ly/UG2PnU. The book Gary Briechle Photographs was recently published by Twin Palms Publishers, http://bit.ly/TJSBjq.

Critic Bio
Maggie Blanchard, Director
Twin Palms Publishers, Santa Fe, NM, USA
www.twinpalms.com

Maggie Blanchard is Director of Twin Palms Publishers. For over thirty years Twin Palms has published exceptional photography and art books with an emphasis on monographs. Each beautifully made book honors the original work while creating an object that has a life of its own. Formerly, Maggie was Co-Director of Center, whose aim is to help photographers identify their creative goals and accomplish them through feedback, support and opportunities. Maggie is also a photography teacher, reviewer and juror.