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ABOUT THE IMAGE
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| This elaborately ornamented
plaster building - long a fixture of my childhood in Balboa Park - no longer exists,
replaced by something more structurally sound but rather more bland. Built in the Spanish
Colonial style as one of several "temporary" structures for the 1915-1916
Panama- California Exposition in San Diego, California, it lasted into the 1990s. I am one of many photographers captivated by its ornate
patterns of shadow and light - a couple of others were Gregg Toland and Orson
Welles, for you can see the details masquerading as the towers of Xanadu in the film
CITIZEN KANE. |
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"No matter how slow
the film, Spirit
always stands still
long enough
for the photographer
It has chosen."
- Minor White |
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website designed and maintained by ML Hart
original content and images/graphics ©
copyright 1994-2005 ML Hart except where noted
group photo on self-timer, Mark Sink's
camera
thesight logo
©Steven F. Procko
no part of this page, site, or any
components may be borrowed, downloaded, acquired, or otherwise used by any person(s)
without the express written consent of ML Hart
what is copyright all about?
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| ARTIST'S STATEMENT - Explorations in Shadow & Light |
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Trying to assign labels to the work one does
can be a useful exercise if you're looking for guideposts telling you where that work is
at a particular moment. But it's too easy to get caught up in the semantics, and the
labels can become traps. If I have to call my style
of photography something, then the label I'd choose would certainly have words
like 'journalism' or 'documentary' in it. I figured out early on that I prefer live-action
shooting rather than static set-ups, and that preference lends itself to a reportage
approach to my work. You can see this in the various series with musicians, dancers, and
opera.
I work primarily in black & white to reshape my
perceptions, to see more clearly without the distraction of the colors we live with, and
to abandon the idea of the camera being synonymous with truth. A color photograph can be
reproduced in black & white - and all the more easily with the computer - but it is
not at all the same. The film reads light rather differently, and the eye behind the film
plane selects entirely differently... yes, I'm still working with film.
A photograph is all the more effective if it breaks
through those barriers, those perceptions, inviting the viewer to see beyond to another
place... or time... or self. The fantasy of a black & white photograph, then, is in
the way light and shadow combine with silver to give the illusion of reality - or
of an alternate view of reality.
The galleries here are where you'll find ongoing series
of photographic explorations - call them works in progress or collections of photographs
that haven't yet found their way into something as organized as a 'series.' Whether
in black & white or color, perhaps we should call the galleries my life in
progress.
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| PHOTOGRAPHERS'
SUPPORT GROUP One of the
best parts of being online in the early 1990s was my involvement in/on the Fine Art Board
(FAB) in AmericaOnline's Photography Forum. Here was a group of photographer-artists who
met to discuss and share and support in the style of a 19th century arts salon - we
debated everything from the definitions of pornographic vs. erotic to what kind of
music we listen to in the studio to the meaning of art. What we didn't do was get
bogged down in lots of technical detail - there are plenty of other places on the 'net for
that.
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 We formed friendships and
business relationships - many of us continue to meet in person at least once a year; we
put together curated group shows in galleries, both virtual and real; we participated in
print exchanges (the old-fashioned way, by snail-mail). We also started a group gallery
website - thesight - you can meet us, talk to us, and see our work too, by
clicking the link below. For
a few years, the group ebbed and flowed around a core of regulars - most of us tried other
artist boards, and we always ended up back home on the FAB. It was a unique group - most
notable for the volume of posts, the intensity, the honesty, the respect, and overall lack
of insecure posturing and arrogant spouting that pollute so many similar groups. Success
brought its own price, and as the wannabes jumped in and we all moved on, the
participation and the quality wound down. Sometimes it was crazy, and often heated, and always
it was about finding our way to being artists ... |
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[In the photograph above
you can see some of those who made the trek to Denver for the opening of our first Off
The Highway show in January 1995. Midnight, after the mob of guests was gone, this
shot was taken with a digital camera and uploaded in real time to the AOL chat room that
had been set up to cover the event of the opening - pretty routine now, but it was
ultra-new back then. Many of these photographers have their own websites - connect to them
here.
For the record, left to right: Anne
Arden McDonald, Paul Raphaelson, Mark Katzman, Greg Dyro; Mark Sink, Robin Rule next to
Mark; behind them Joe Sarff, then Kenneth Jones, ML Hart, Richard Bram, Kerik Kouklis,
Diane Highbaugh]
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Now in its sixth year, thesight
is a curated, online exhibition featuring the work from fine-art photgraphers from around
the world. |
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