A little change

I've been a bit behind with working on my photos. My excuse this time is that I've been writing a lot, which is a very good thing for me anyway. I have almost 70 pages written at the moment--I'd give a word count, but I'm writing by hand. I love the process of writing--that's actually why I write, not for the finished product but for that trance-like surge of creative energy. It's marvelous. I'd forgotten how much more potent it is when the writing is done by pen rather than by keystroke.

Anyhow. Spurred by this, I decided that it would be nice if I featured artists and specific pieces I like. (It's good for the ego, I've heard...) So today I'm featuring the work of Susan Friedman:


Her bio (on her site) surprised me a bit--she got a BA in Literature, going on in photography and film at SFAI. I've often heard (mostly through J&J) that many graduate-level artists weren't actually art majors in college. Julie made a particular point of telling me, I think as a nudge to say that if I wanted to, it wouldn't be impossible to get in as a non-major.

Friedman has done a lot of excellent film work (I think I've even unwittingly seen something of hers), and even won a Grammy. Nice, eh?

But it's her photography that I'm focusing on here... Her most recent work is Equus. She brings a calm, ethereal and reflective mood to her collection of portraits and motion grids. I was pleased to see that she used a hasselblad (<3) for some of the photos (and a view camera) then scanned the images and toned them digitally, and by the looks of it, added some texture layers as well. I'm not so sure I like the latest trend of photographers texturing their work, but I don't think her photographs would have the same effect without it. I love what she says about her equine work, though:

"There is something in the idea of the horse that evokes what I feel we as humans have lost: our connection to spirit, sense of wildness, and our spontaneity. These motion studies represent the real strength, freedom and individual spirit that exists in these horses, and in us, despite the constraints imposed by frame, and by the confines of our daily lives." -Friedman

This is also one of the few times where I actually got that through the photogarphs before reading the statement. Major props.

My favorite Equus images are "Tesoro - Garden" (gallery 2), "Trotter" (g2), "Vito Smaller 2" (g2), and "Moving Forward" (g1). I think "Trotter" is the most successful motion image, and I simply love the background in Tesoro. It reminds me of a poem by Wordsworth (several, actually).

But her Women gallery (pictured in the screen shot above), to me, is the most provacative. There is a raw, almost pagan/spiritual quality to them. Heightened by the level of detail (*cough* HASSELBLAD *cough). My absolute favorite image is "Carol - Franklin Point" (g2). It grabs me and does not let go. I love the light on her skin, the pose that abstracts her form into something other than body. She becomes a moon, the flash of a dolphin or whale among the waves. I also love the narrative of "Martha" (g2). Other top listers are "Women in White 1" (g1), "Nina and Buddha" (g1), "Vivianna" (g1), and "Walks on Water" (g1).