EXHIBITION DETAILS

Low Tech

October 1 — 30, 2010

Public / Artists’ Reception: Oct 1 from 6-9pm 

THEME: 

Low-Tech 

The Center is celebrating the low-tech processes and is interested in exhibit ing the best low-tech images. This call is open to all subjects and styles of  photography that include a low tech means of image making or printing. This  includes, but is not limited to; toy, Holga and Diana cameras, Pinhole, Wet  Plate Collodian, Photograms,  

Callotypes, Cyanotypes, Polaroid and other traditional processes.  

JUROR: 

Crista Dix is the Founder and Director of wall space gallery in Seattle and  Santa Barbara. Starting in this creative field as a photographer, collector  and lover of the visual image, Crista decided to put down her camera and  utilize her years of business management to help promote photographers  and photography. With a background in science, business and creative arts,  she has created a gallery space that celebrates artists’ vision. She has been  a member of numerous panels and discussions, juried creative competitions  and has participated in major portfolio reviews across the country.  

STATEMENT

In this world of high tech gadgets, megapixels and digital color management, the craft of photography is often buried in the details. We find ourselves asking, how did you do that? What camera did you use? What film? Is that digital? What filter in Photoshop? How many layers does that have? Is that really a conversation we should be having?

The low tech approach allows us to talk about the images, what the intent of the artist is, and the craft and creativity of photography. The idea of “low tech” photography is a contradiction in terms, alternative processes like Palladium, Ambrotype, Cyanotype and Gum Bichromate require extensive skill, patience and an attention to detail. It requires the artist to pre-visualize the work from concept to print, taking into account its inconsistency and ability to have a serendipitous result. Using toy cameras, like a Diana or Holga, give us the opportunity to expect the unexpected. For these processes, film is not an arcane museum object, but a living tool, the base to work magic from. That plastic coated light sensitive material that exposes our ideas, flexible and tangible, enables artists an extended range for creativity.

This exhibition, Low Tech, is a celebration of attention to detail, of craft and composition, and lastly about process. 

Leigh Anne Langwell’s other worldly photograms swim in primordial ooze, or stretch towards the outer reaches of the solar system. Her structured process is one of creating clever architectural abstracts through meticulous efforts. Ben Panter takes the truest course of low tech with his pinhole landscapes. Exposures made through common household objects like an egg carton or breath mint tin prove it isn’t the camera, but the idea and execution that matters. Walt Jones used hot wax to sculpt dancers leaping across the page. Grant Hamilton and Leon Alesi used the instant technology of Polaroid to craft colorful abstract stories. With an 8x10 pinhole camera using 809 Polaroid film, we see Marita Gootee’s kid filled poolside.  

Low Tech spans the gamut of processes, ideas and visions. Landscapes, Portraits, Still Lifes, all exposing us to the talent and creativity of the medium, as well as its talented artists.

Crista Dix

Wall Space Gallery