Ideas - Chris McCaw

Chris McCaw
Photographer
By: Kylee Diedrich


Chris McCaw is a contemporary photographer who has been working with the medium starting at the age of 13.  He taught himself photography with fisheye lenses and film in the 80s.  In the 90s McCaw bought a 4"x5" camera to begin working with platinum/palladium printing processes, he used other with larger format cameras as well.  He has since worked with other analog techniques and explores extreme possibilities of the medium. 

The project I find most interesting is his project Sunburn where he explores the limitations of film.  This is what McCaw states about his process: 

In this process the sun burns its path onto the light sensitive negative. After hours of exposure, the sky, as a result of the extremely intense light exposure, reacts in an effect called solarization- a natural reversal of tonality through over exposure. The resulting negative literally has a burnt hole in it with the landscape in complete reversal. The subject of the photograph (the sun) has transcended the idea that a photograph is simple a representation of reality,  and has physically come through the lens and put it’s hand onto the final piece. This is aprocess of creation and destruction, all happening within the the camera.

McCaw makes contemporary photography, but addresses the history of the medium throughout his process.  He learns more about his method of making as years go on and learns from military aerial reconnaissance camera optics and the history of photo papers.  McCaw discusses the love for his process as such:

 This project has got my mind working overtime and has rejuvenated my faith in analog photography. My favorite part is watching smoke come out of the camera during the exposure and the faint smell of roasted marshmallows as the gelatin cooks!

When relating McCaw's work with my own, I find the art of photography fascinating.  The functions of the camera, and how hands-on the whole process can be.  I also enjoy the uncertainty in the process of analog and love many the possibilities with photography. 

Death / Destruction - Joel-Peter Witkin - The Still Life

Joel-Peter Witkin 

Allison Krenz

Flowers, feathers, monkeys, centaurs, corpses... these are just a few things one sees in a still life by Joel-Peter Witkin. Steeping in art history, Witkin builds scenes that are somewhere between a dream and a nightmare.

Many of us avoid the subject of death. Most of us have a healthy fear of dying, but we choose to avoid the topic because it is something we cannot begin to understand. We can see others die, but until we experience it ourselves, it is up to our imaginations to think of what comes after. What Witkin does is embrace what others choose to turn away from. He looks death in the eye (sometimes quite literally) and then shows us what he sees.

He shoots his elaborate scenes as sketches, carefully choosing which objects are included. He then gathers his supplies and builds his visions into reality. All of his work post-process is done in the dark room. According to his biography published by the Museum of Contemporary Photography, he ages his photos through physical manipulation of the medium. Perhaps it's this aggressive approach to the creative process that makes his images feel so real, even though the imagery is straight from Witkin's imagination.

Witkin currently draws inspiration from the deserts of New Mexico. Much of his symbolism comes from the culture of the South West, and while he still produces work today, much of it feels as old as time itself.