Photography: Paul Hamann, William Jaeger, Stacey Lauren, Sarah Sterling at John Davis Gallery
John Davis Gallery
Hudson, New York
On Thursday, December 7th, an exhibition of four photographers (Paul Hamann, William Jaeger, Stacey Lauren, and Sarah Sterling) will open at the John Davis Gallery. The work will be on display through December 21st with a reception for the artists on Saturday, December 9th from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m.
Working first with a 35mm camera, Paul Hamann began taking pictures in 1968 with an eye to the details and abstractions that captured the essence of what he saw. He soon began to explore the greater range and depth of large format negatives—first working with a 5×7 camera and later experimenting with 8×10 and even larger formats. The technical requirements of shooting with the larger format cameras as well as the resulting clarity and definition of the contact prints proved perfectly suited to the detail and precision of Hamann’s creative vision.
While he is essentially documenting what is found in the exterior landscape, he is also revealing an alternate landscape created by the methods used in composing and printing the photograph. The result is a sort of meta landscape, a stringing of the tension between what is perceived on the surface of the image and what might be hidden behind, around, beneath or within it—the landscape of the interior.
The subtle tension between what is seen and what lies beyond what is seen is at the core of what Paul Hamann’s images are about—revealing the ordered patterns in the chaos, the motion in the perceived stillness, the interior of the exterior.
William Jaeger has been photographing the Hudson River area for two decades. He received his M.F.A. in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1984. In addition to his photographic work, Mr. Jaeger is also a writer, having been the art critic for the Albany Times Union and, at present, New York Editor/contributor to Art New .
Mr. Jaeger explains, “My process can seem complicated if I think about it too much, but in short, I photograph what I find. The images here might have documentary, formal, or even (happily) poetic elements, but those are elements I can only intuitively understand. When I take a photograph, the event is something I don’t really want to probe beyond the results, which are here for you to approach much as I did.”
Stacey Lauren Is exhibiting a series of color photographs entitled “Liquid Flowers”. These perplexing images most often begin with a beheading and a placement in foreign environs of a flower. Her intention is never about taking this beautiful object and recording its beauty. It’s about process, about displacement, about the documenting of various transformations within new and disagreeable surroundings and the inevitable personification that occurs with the artist’s concerns: the destruction, the manipulation, the struggle. And yet, when the photograph is seen, it is about the viewer and what the viewer perceives. At this point, Ms. Lauren feels that she and her concerns become irrelevant. The attributes that she assigned vanish and with it, the angst of resolution.
Ms. Lauren states, “Most often, questions revolve around how certain effects are achieved, whether or not I alter my images after I shoot them. Rather than jettison all the magic, I’ll admit to this: I am a literalist on a powertrip. I take issue with post-production manipulation. It reeks of deception and frivolity and has the instant gratification of a McDonald’s Happy Meal. So yes, it all ensues before the shutter releases and outside a traditional studio setting. And the process always makes me giddy, like having a mouth full of pop rocks and cotton candy in both hands.”
These photographs of the seasons at Olana are part of a larger body of work that photographer Sarah Sterling has been working on for the past six years. The landscape provides a multifaceted canvas for her explorations into color and design. Each year is different with ever changing moods and Ms Sterling has become an expert at interpreting the beauty of one of the most spectacular settings in Columbia County. She reaches deep into unexplored territory, the unknown Olana, and brings her unique viewpoint to this exhibition.
Sculpture Garden & Carriage House:
The sculpture garden and carriage house will be closed for the winter, reopening in late May of 2007.
Gallery hours are Thursday through Monday, 10:00 till 5:30 p.m. For further information about the gallery, the artists and upcoming exhibition, visit www.johndavisgallery.com
or contact John Davis directly at 518.828.5907 or via e-mail: art@johndavisgallery.com.