Photographers on Photography

Atelier 33 artist Sandy Hill created her series American Decor during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to create a connection with the people in her community despite the way our country has been physically and ideologically divided over the past year. Her work is on display in the Griffin Main Gallery until March 26, 2021. We asked Sandy a few questions to learn more about her collection.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

I would say the image of the woman with the horse statue was probably the one that captured my heart photographically and got the ball rolling. It was   partially hidden by the bushes and seemed humble and worn, like a toy well loved. I also enjoyed the little skeletons and the angel nearby. It is a spot and a house I’ve driven past many times without noticing the horse and it kind of captured my curiosity. While the initial impetus for taking the photos was a purely visual response to interesting items, it became more about  the people who lived there.

How has your photography changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the Atelier been a motivator to persevere through these trying times?

I’ve become more cautious about approaching people safely and conscious about keeping distant physically while taking portraits. I knock on the door or ring the bell and step far back and I also don’t spend as much time doing portraits for safety purposes. The Atelier has really been a light for me in difficult times. It made me examine different styles and stretch my visual skills. I had been struggling to find a way to start a project I’m excited about, and thanks to this class, I have.

How is this method of photographing the scenery and people around you different in our current world?

I’ve felt since last spring that people are pausing more, stopping to chat during walks, not as busy and preoccupied. Appreciative of the opportunity to talk to someone in person, something we’ve perhaps taken for granted. Most agreed to my request for a portrait and even those who did not want to be photographed would spend time telling me about their decorations. Many were proud or excited to talk about their art. One man opened his garage to show me his woodworking set up, a mom and daughter told me how they were able to collect free doors to replace the fence that had been falling down, a woman in an apartment in Haverhill had a little Christmas tree and decorations set up on the sidewalk and explained that she does it for the children in the area. The stories were wonderful and varied.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

That we can find connections even during times that seem to be driving us apart. That even if it’s something as simple as a lawn decoration we can find ways to appreciate one another.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

I hope to continue with this project for awhile—it’s kind of a treasure hunt of sorts! I have a few people who I will photograph soon and once Covid restrictions aren’t a concern I would like to explore NH and maybe other states too looking for other unique decorations and people. After that—lots of ideas! (Thank you Atelier!)

To see more of Sandy Hill, be sure to visit her website and her Instagram, @Sandy_Hill_Photography.

In this highlight of the Atelier 33 exhibition, we took a closer look at Diana Cheren Nygren‘s series, Just Another Alice. Diana’s collection is on display in the Griffin Main Gallery until March 26, 2021, and we are also pleased to be featuring Diana’s work in the upcoming exhibition Digits: A Parallel Universe at the Lafayette Citer Center Passageway. Just Another Alice is an imaginative series that reminisces on the lives we all enjoyed prior to being affected by COVID-19. We asked the artists a few questions for some insight into her work.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

Unlike series that develop from an image or group of images, this series started with a concept. I started by building my room with a window. The concept and the images are deceptively simple. Figuring out which furniture, the balance of consistency and change, of complexity and simplicity, that would effectively convey the concept, took an enormous amount of trial and error, experimentation, and continuous redesign. The images themselves fell easily into place, like a child playing with a dollhouse, once the format was established.

How has your photography changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the Atelier been a motivator to persevere through these trying times?

The pandemic forced me to take a completely different approach to my photography.  Although, it was also the logical extension of where my work had been heading in the months just before the pandemic.  While most of my work has been candid, street photography, and landscapes, at the end of 2019 I was working on a compositing project which I began while taking the Atelier class that fall.  Being largely stuck in my house forced me to focus on more personal projects, and on making work using photographs I had already taken and the objects around me.  I played a lot with compositing as a way of telling visual stories using the materials available to me. Irrespective of the pandemic, the Atelier has motivated me to experiment with new subjects and techniques that have been critical to pushing me forward as an artist.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

With this project, as with most of my work, I hope the viewer sees both the humor and something that resonates at a deeper level.  It has been an incredibly strange year.  I think it will take us all some time to get our minds around what it has meant for us.  But while I hope the viewer can identify with the feeling of confinement portrayed in these images, at the end of the day, this is a playful project. I had fun working on it and I want it to bee fun for the viewer as well.

What is the significance of playing with perception and a fictionalized reality in the way you have done here?

I think if it had been a real room in the pictures, the space would have been too specific and too personal. By creating a simulation of a room, I want it to have the potential to speak in a more universal way so that viewers can relate to the space and feel themselves in it. The project is also about imagination and our abilities to transport ourselves. We have very concrete coping mechanisms in difficult times, but psychological ones too. These constructions give concrete form to the process of imagining, but hopefully in a way that doesn’t feel fantastical but maintains some grounding in experience of the world. One thing I have discovered through the last year, both with the experience of relative isolation and with the political turmoil and the ubiquity of the notion of fake news in the United States, is how easy it is to become disconnected from reality, and how quickly you can start to question your own ability to judge what is real. I hope that some of that tension, and some of the surreal quality of this year, comes through in the images.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

 Honestly I don’t know what comes next. I am still working on a couple of ongoing projects. I have been playing around with hand coloring and with different kinds of paper, and I imagine whatever I do it will have a mixed media dimension. I love straight photography. But for now I am definitely getting pulled further and further into ways the artist’s hand can intervene in the image. I’d like to play with varnishes, different modes of presentation, and possibly staged imagery. That all might change, however, once things open up and I get out into the world more.

For more of Diana Cheren Nygren’s work, visit her website, her Facebook, and her Instagram, @DianaCherenNygrenPhotography.

In this highlight of the Atelier 33 exhibition, we interviewed Diane Shohet to hear about her collection, currently on view in the Griffin Main gallery until March 26, 2021. For the Atelier show, Diane captured images of her “little house” in Wellfleet, Massachusetts as a way to reminisce on past summer memories.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

The Blue Chairs inspired the rest of the series in a number of ways. It focused on a space touched by human presence, yet connected to the natural world. The colors of the chairs, pale and faded, as if dimmed by the memory, inspired the colors in the rest of the series. The emerald of the trees and the summer light also infused the rest of the series.

How has your photography changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the Atelier been a motivator to persevere through these trying times?

At first, the pandemic made it difficult for me to find inspiration and to take photos. I spent time re-envisioning images taken during different times. My annual visit to the Cape this past summer inspired me to photograph again. The Atelier started in the Fall and weekly assignments forced me to explore my new and more restricted world. It motivated me to keep taking pictures. And then, in preparation for the show, I stretched myself in new areas: Photoshop, printing, and presenting for exhibit. Great learning experience.

What can be said about the idea of portraiture captured through objects, as opposed to people?

I love taking pictures of people. The pandemic put people out of reach. It was then that I realized that certain objects and spaces held their presence. So, the objects and spaces became portraits of where they had been.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

Their own memories of summer.

 

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

Right now, my creativity is going into writing for my job. I hope to start another photography project soon.

To see more of Diane Shohet’s work, visit her website.

In this highlight of the Atelier 33 exhibition, we interviewed Peter Balentine about his series Home Markets, which can be seen in the Griffin Main Gallery until March 26, 2021. This collection documents the many family owned markets that can be found around the city of Lynn, Massachusetts, where Peter is a pastor at an immigrant church. He has taken an interest in celebrating the culture that these many stores have brought to his city.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

Actually, the impetus for this series was the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher who catalogued water towers, barns and other architectural features in Eastern Europe for over 40 years. I took a MOMA class last spring, “Seeing Through Photography”, and their work was featured. During a drive in my new city of Lynn one day this fall, the markets begin popping out at me. La Familia, a grocery store on Summer and Burns was my first “home market” I photographed. I love the orange color of the awning combined with the purple trim, and the long steps that went up to the front door above the market. This market then drew me to look for others to photograph. I am up to 37 markets now in the home market typology in Lynn.

How has your photography changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the Atelier been a motivator to persevere through these trying times?

The pandemic actually gave me some extra time at home to study photography, work on my craft and skills, and take several classes online. Atelier was an amazing supportive environment that helped me stay focused on this project, and also experiment with other class assignments as well. The every Thursday a.m. routine of showing work was very helpful to stay disciplined in making work regularly.

What drew you to want to represent the stories of immigrant families creating lives in your community?

I am a pastor of an immigrant church in Lynn and desire to know more about the lives of people coming from other countries, but now living in our city. Home markets get one right down to the grass roots of everyday life: markets are where you go to get what you need to live and raise a family. I wanted to better understand people. In a small way, I thought also that a catalog of these markets might contribute to the history of the city of Lynn.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

I hope people will have fun viewing the variety of colors, shapes, and ethnic
backgrounds of these markets. I hope it will cause them to look for uniqueness and beauty in their own communities, especially as offered by people coming from other parts of the world.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

I would like to work on portraits of people at my church and living in the surrounding neighborhoods of the church. This can be challenging due to the fact that we are a gateway city of immigrants. The first step is to just build relationships and get to know people. The camera will come out later and only if people are okay with it.

For more of Peter Balentine’s work, check out his website and visit his Instagram, @PeterJeremyBalentine.

In this highlight of the Atelier 33 exhibition, we’ll look at Sandy Gotlib‘s ongoing collection, Framingham Farms. Sandy’s current work, showing in the Griffin Main Gallery until March 26, 2021, belongs to a year-long project documenting the surviving farms of Framingham, Massachusetts. To hear more about Sandy’s work, we asked him some questions.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

While my intent was to continue to document an entire year – a full agricultural cycle – on the farms,  initially I found myself drawn to these plastic-sheathed, light-filled  greenhouses which grounds the series of images on display.

 

 

How has your photography changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the Atelier been a motivator through these trying times?

I found that the restrictions imposed by COVID and the effects on my own motivation to work caused me to set aside photography in the early months of the pandemic. The Atelier was a huge help in providing structure and motivation to get my practice re-started.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

I hope that viewers take away the realization that there is beauty and wonder to be found in these humble lands and simple structures and that one does need to go far to find it. Additionally, I hope to provide another view of the place that I live for those who only know Framingham as a city of shopping malls and industry.

Why was it important for you to preserve these farms photographically? 

While some of these farms are “protected space” others are constantly under the threat of development; once developed, the space is gone forever and while I’d like to think that they will ultimately be physically preserved at the very least I’m wanting to preserve them photographically.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

I am planning to continue this project and document the farms (or a farm) through a full year agricultural cycle. At the same time I plan to continue to work on another long-term project that documents the many aspects of  “life on the Framingham Common.”

To see Sandy Gotlib’s work and follow along as he completes Framingham Farms, check out his website and his Instagram, @SandyG_Photo.

Bonnie Newman‘s collection Impressions: Cape Cod is showing in the Griffin Main Gallery until March 26, 2021, as a part of the Atelier 33 exhibition. To learn more about her abstract visions of Cape Cod’s landscapes, we asked her a few questions.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

I started experimenting with ICM (intentional camera movement) last spring, as a way to “capture the spirit” of landscapes and help me see familiar places differently and more powerfully. I knew I wanted to explore the “dreaminess” of ICM for the Atelier project.

How has your photography changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the Atelier been a motivator to persevere through these trying times?

My photography has blossomed during COVID. I could wander alone
with my camera for hours at a time and connect with my environment
in new ways. The Atelier provided the venue to push myself more
deeply in this direction I was already heading.

How does your process for shooting landscape scenes influence the final pieces?

I have chosen places that speak to me, and love shooting in the early morning light. I’ve shot literally hundreds of photos utilizing ICM, and have chosen a very select few that capture the spirit I am seeking.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

I hope to share the serenity and the ephemeral nature of beautiful
environments and encourage people to see landscape in a new way.

 

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

I hope to continue shooting landscapes in ways that help us to see our natural world differently—using both ICM and multiple exposures. I also am considering utilizing these same techniques with close-ups of natural elements, such as leaves or plants.

Visit Bonnie Newman‘s website to see more of her work.

Jim Turner‘s collection Seeing in Threes is on display in the Griffin Main Gallery as a part of the Atelier 33 exhibition, open until March 26, 2021. We wanted to learn more about Jim’s innovative and insightful way of representing nature, so we asked him a few questions.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

One of the exercises we did in the early part of the Atelier was a “conversation” with another artist where we explored someone else’s artistic approach then created our own work as inspired by theirs. I chose Brigitte Carnochan as my artist to explore. I have always admired her work and I share her appreciation of the beauty of the natural world and of the intricate patterns and detail found in nature. One of the things she talks about is slowing the viewer down so that they can appreciate the beauty in an image in more detail. A method she has used to accomplish this is to divide images into triptychs so the viewer can appreciate each panel on its own in addition to as a part of a cohesive whole. As I applied this idea to some of my own photographs I was immediately struck by how much I felt that certain images were significantly enhanced by converting them into triptychs. Two of these early attempts, “Daffodils” and “Maple Leaves” were the impetus to make a series of botanical triptychs my project for the Atelier.

How has your photography changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the Atelier been a motivator to persevere through these trying times?

Unfortunately, like most of us, my options for photography have been very limited since the beginning of the pandemic. I seldom go much further than our own backyard or local gardens. The Atelier was a lifesaver, it kept me focused and allowed me to interact regularly with other like-minded and supportive photographers.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

I hope that viewers will be surprised and pleased, as I am, by the hidden beauty in what we often regard as everyday things.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

I would like to continue to expand my series of botanical triptychs while I’m waiting for the inspiration for my next project.

To see more of Jim Turner’s work, visit his Instagram, @Jim_Turner_Photos.

Lisa Cassell-Arms’ collection Aide Memoir (An Aid to Memory) is currently on view in the Griffin Main Gallery as a part of the Atelier 33 exhibition, open until March 26, 2021. Lisa’s Atelier work centers around the curious truth of gardens and the way they can be a source of reflection and comfort for its visitors. To learn more about her process of creating Aide Memoir, we asked Lisa a few questions.

How has your photography changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the Atelier been a motivator to persevere through these trying times?

For me, the Atelier has been a game changer. Pre-Covid, I was creating photos and working very much on my own.  Ironically, it was the lockdown itself that allowed me to participate remotely in the Atelier.  I don’t live in MA, so under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have been able to take part. The benefit of working through projects with feedback from our instructor Meg, along with sharing perspectives and ideas with others in the Atelier was invaluable and will propel me forward.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

I hope that viewers will take a few moments to imagine themselves in the quiet, early dawn of the garden, and allow a kind of free-association as they take in the shapes, shadows and clipped forms. And then let their gaze wander to the edges where the mood shifts and where the path may be harder to discern.

What is the significance of documenting both the cultivated and the wild or natural space?

I’m interested in the contrast between cultivated space, where human presence (and control) on the landscape is evident, and where we have historically retreated for comfort and healing; and the wild space beyond the edges of the garden, where human presence fades and nature is unbounded. Placing them side by side invites a contemplation of two very different natural spaces.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

The project I’m working on currently is a series of merged landscape images, inspired by antique stereoscope cards. The aged cards have a slightly unreal quality that has always intrigued me.  In my series, I pair landscape images that I’ve shot in different parts of the world, at different times, so that when placed together, they enter into a conversation with one another. The visual dialogue between forms suggests a new, hybrid land.

For more of Lisa Cassell-Arms’ work, visit her website and her Instagram, @SeasonsInVermont.