First exchanges: more bang for their buck?

Our first Community Day at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) resulted in many surprising trades and exchanges. After just three weeks of photographing and wandering in this small south end neighborhood I settled on a few recurring themes: the first one is the driving force for the project and considers the people who work and live in this diverse neighborhood. Anyone who agreed to collaborate on making their portrait received a voucher, which they could exchange for a gifted photograph from the project at one of three Community Days at the BCA. All of the participants were strangers who I met walking on the street through a variety of serendipitous circumstances. We usually begin with a passing comment which then grows into a lengthier conversation and eventually the camera comes into play. I am still learning how to make good portraits – something that genuinely honors and captures a person’s likeness. Actually I am terrified every time I begin and this is one of the reasons I am pushing myself to do this project. I work with either my 4×5 camera (as in this first photograph below) or my DSLR:

Yulia, shop worker

Pat, store manager

Leo, fruit and vegetable vendor

Cynthia and Velma, Cleaners

John, carpenter

Ashton

Bruce, window-washer

Bob and Fred, at home in the South End

Anna, artist reclaiming green space

Miriam, artist coming to work in her studio at the BCA

Vernon, shop owner and worker

Peter, South End postal worker

I am also recording the neighborhood using a Holga, which is a plastic pinhole camera. The architecture, small shops and abundant churches are reminiscent of an earlier time which makes the use of B+W film more appropriate. Making silver prints in the darkroom rekindles this relationship even further.

Open for business

historic south end lamp posts

flight path 1

hoping for spring

Holy Trinity German Catholic Church: homage to the worker

Jesus, Holy Trinity German Catholic Church

flight path 2

Super Cleaners (with lamp post shadow)

winter’s end

Handle with Care

Flight path 3

Tree fugue

And finally, some days (and late nights) I need to record the neighborhood in color

Cathedral of the Holy Cross, sunset

historic south end lamp post (shadow)

Blackstone square, snowy night

South End sky with moon

Starlight, south end at night

sky conversation

Shadow fugue

Blackstone Square (Prudential in Background)

Receiving the institutional support from the BCA for this project is making a huge difference to its success. First I have a studio in the neighborhood where over these last several weeks I’ve been able to return to and warm up (average temp these past weeks = 40 degrees!) and it helps knowing my production costs are covered. I am looking forward to the weather warming up, which is bound to create more opportunities for photographing people.

There were many highlights to the first Community Exchange Day. Eugene Finney did an amazing job converting the studio building entryway into a pop-up gallery and interns Bridget Lynch and Hannah Adams were on hand to help coordinate the exchanges.

photograph by Olga Khvan

I met Bob walking down the street and ended up spending a lovely afternoon in his home along with his partner Fred. They each received a voucher and it was a wonderful reunion when they showed up to exchange their vouchers for photographs. They have lived in the South End since 1965 so it is especially gratifying to hear from them how well they believe I am capturing the spirit of the neighborhood.

photograph by Olga Khvan

photograph by Olga Khvan

I received 5 vouchers back in trade and in the last hour when the exchange was opened up to anyone in the community I received 9 more trades. I have more work to do in regards to finding ways of getting participants to return . Ultimately I want to re-gift the entire portfolio back out to the community.  I learned from some visitors that many of the workers who participated were unable to come because they were at their jobs. I hope to address this in my next Community Day which will take place in the evening after work (May 15th 6:30-9:30pm). Over the next month I will be looking for each of them to make sure they are aware of this opportunity. This is one of the challenges with this project.

the red dots signify exchanges

A very gratifying but exhausting three weeks, I am looking forward to getting back to the neighborhood to continue building the project. Walking home that evening with my girlfriend Susie we were greeted with this encouraging sight: a confluence of flight paths in the fading sky

Exchange Economy

A new community interactive project in collaboration with The Boston Center for the Arts was launched on Monday March 4th, 2013.

Over the next 15-weeks, as artist-in-residence I will be photographing on the streets of the surrounding BCA neighborhood, sometimes setting up informal studios in various locations and inviting passers-by to collaborate on crafting their photographic portrait. In exchange for their cooperation and time, participants receive a voucher as “currency” that can be used to purchase any one photograph exhibited at a BCA Community Day. I am also photographing the people who work in the many small shops dotting the neighborhood.

During the first week I’ve been orientating myself and defining the boundaries. Located at 539 Tremont Street in the south end, the BCA community is composed of many diverse groups: hispanic, chinese, russian, korean, and white. Shops range from convenience stores and dry cleaners to hair salons and intimate restaurants. There is also an animal rescue league, many theaters and schools, an active post office, a library, fire house, and churches. In other words, it is a microcosm for many small communities in the greater Boston Area.

I like that the shape of the map resembles a pentagon drawing of a house.

To convey the nostalgic character of the architecture and small streets I decided to use a holga with B+W film to create silver prints. To photograph the men and women who work throughout the neighborhood, either at the counters or in back rooms, I am using my 4×5 camera with color film. And my DSLR is essential when time and/or low-lighting becomes a hurdle, especially out on the street. At the end of 15 weeks I seek to compile and ultimately preserve the unique character and spirit of this BCA community at this moment in time. I like these kinds of relational projects because they offer me a way to engage with strangers, exchange gifts, and ultimately come away with a different perspective of the world.

Here’s how the gifting process will work. The BCA and I will be hosting three Community Days: Saturday April 6 from 2-5pm, Wednesday evening May 15 from 6:30-9:30pm and Saturday June 15 from 2-5pm. During the first two hours, anyone with a voucher can “purchase” one of the photographs on view; they may opt to go home with their portrait or choose a completely different subject. During the last hour, remaining photographs are available to anyone who offers me something of value in exchange. This idea of “value” is open to interpretation and I will be documenting the array of objects and notions of value I receive. Only 4 prints will be made for each image that becomes part of the project. One will be exchanged or gifted, and one will be kept as an artist’s proof. The other two will become part of complete clam-shell portfolios that will be  offered for sale in the traditional market, to an institution and/or collector.

Why am I doing this? As a long time artist I am concerned with the way “value” in our culture is increasingly solely defined by a marketplace built on economic inequity. I hope this project will open up alternative possibilities and viewpoints. This project would be impossible without the incredible support from the BCA, especially the invaluable help of Cynthia Woo (Associate Director of Education and Public Programs), Eugene Finney (Visual Arts Manager), Christine Licata (Associate Director of Visual Arts) and interns Michelle McGinn, Bridget Lindstrom and Hannah Adams.

I will be posting periodic photographs and updates in addition to having guest bloggers post their own thoughts on what they value, how it is created and how it is sustained. If you are interested in becoming part of the conversation, please let me know.

Lucky Winners

For several years the editors of Photo District News, the award winning magazine for the professional photography industry have run a daily feature called PDN Photo of the Day. On Friday January 18th I was thrilled that my lottery project received this honor.

http://pdnphotooftheday.com/2013/01/18632

Three shows to make you smile

At the end of each semester, though gratified by the wonderful photography created by my students, I often find myself burnt out and in need of a creative recharge. Luckily I live close enough to New York City so I can string together several days of museum exhibitions throughout the five boroughs and gallery exhibits across Chelsea while fortifying myself with some of the best food in the country and some of the best art friends on the planet. Last week did not disappoint.

Ann Hamilton presents her newest installation at the Park Avenue Armory: The Event of a Thread. She completely transforms the huge cavernous space into a joyful expression of cooperation and collaboration, sounding a perfect note for the holiday season. As you enter the hall the first thing you see are two readers seated side-by-side at a large wooden table stacked high with pairs of pigeons inside wooden cages. The readers alternatively recite from a text that cascades down onto the floor as the pigeons appear to calmly be listening:

The readers and pigeons introduce sound and ambiance, but the centerpiece of the installation is the expansive white silky curtain that bisects the hall surrounded by swings. As participants move to and fro on the swings, their actions are simultaneously moving the giant curtain. Attached to the top of each swing is a long thread connected to a portion of the curtain causing it to move up and down. The movement of this silky material billowing up and down is incredibly sensuous while the swinging is joyful and playful. There are plenty of swings and when I was there kids from ages 5-70 years of age were taking turns swinging, pushing each other, laughing and lying down underneath the curtains for an alternative perspective of the curtains movement:

Click on this link to see a short video from underneath the curtain https://vimeo.com/56304503

The installation closes January 8, 2013 so if you happen to be in NYC before then, do yourself the kindness of visiting the Armory to see this poetic and childlike confluence of sound, movement and cooperation.

Next day I rode the subway to the Brooklyn Museum to see the extraordinary painting exhibition by Mickalene Thomas. Using acrylic and enamel paintings Thomas also employs collage elements and sparkling rhinestones, putting her own personal and exuberant spin on familiar pictorial tropes associated with Henri Matisse, Edouard Manet and Claude Monet. The women in her paintings are larger than life exuding strength and beauty. The multi-colored fabrics used as collage elements have an energy that feels like a celebration of each woman’s spirit.

Thomas recently completed a residency at Monet’s Giverney garden in France, which is evident in the lush greenery and beautiful light of her landscapes. I find these paintings mesmerizing.

This museum show also includes several large color photographs that Thomas references and room installations of the many props, colorful fabrics and furniture, which serve as muse and backdrops. Lastly there is a very moving film about her mother who is revealed as one of her more iconic muses. The exhibit is up through January 20 and the museum has a suggested admission price so if you’re on a tight budget, you only need make a small donation in order to enjoy this sublime exhibition. For those of you who can’t get to NYC, Thomas is also exhibiting at the ICA in Boston, which ironically I haven’t seen yet.

Finally go see the video installation by Trisha Baga on the ground floor of the Whitney Museum, titled Plymouth Rock 2. Baga is new on my list of artists to watch and follow. Her video installations weave together moving images, sound, paintings, sculpture, and shadows to create deeply immersive effects. Her materials are often everyday found objects but Baga places them so they interact with the light of projecting video. These overlapping shadows are collaged on top of two channels of video that are projecting one over the other – but it is still possible to read images, making the total visual and aural experience feel like poetry. You can get some sense of her collaging ideas from her website, but to fully appreciate her work you need to be in the space and surrounded by the work. It is up at the Whitney until January 27th.

Happy Holidays and here’s to a New Year full of Art, Joy, Peace and Light for all of us.

It’s your right to VOTE

Tomorrow is a big day.

Vote early and often.

Greater Boston with Emily Rooney on WGBH!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Emily Rooney for the PBS show Greater Boston. Wonderful experience especially having the chance to share images of some of the people and their stories on air. Hopefully this is another step toward getting the project published. Next stop is Georgia – where there are three terrific lottery stories.

Click here to go see the video.

Detropia

Acclaimed local filmmaker Chico Colvard has organized a terrific film festival at UMass Boston that included a free screening of the independent documentary Detropia last Thursday evening. This beautiful film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady is an intimate love letter to the city of Detroit and the many hard-working people who call it home.  Winner of the 2012 Sundance award for best documentary, it is a lyrical and poetic collage of voices, painterly views, and bona fide stories. If you’re looking for an antidote to all the political rhetoric clogging the airwaves and newspapers these days, this film puts a face to the real issues facing our country.

Each scene begins with text overlays that relay pertinent facts about what’s going on below the surface. Cinematographers Craig Aktinson and Tony Hardmon bathe the empty streets and shuttered businesses in elegiac light that contrasts with the painful reality on the ground.

still by Craig Atkinson

Some of the most harrowing facts I scribbled down are: 1 – In the last decade, Michigan has lost 50% of its manufacturing jobs and the dwindling tax base has left Detroit with a $12 million deficit; 2 -Combine this with Detroit’s shrinking population (from 1.87 million residents in 1950 to just about 718,000 in 2010), and an official unemployment rate of 30% and you begin to get an idea of the day-to-day; 3 – Although Detroit was once the fastest growing city in the world, CNN reports the FBI named it the #2 most dangerous city in the country (behind Flint, Michigan).

Still by Tony Hardmon

Four main voices connect us to real people. The film begins with 28 year-old writer and activist Crystal Starr who Ewing and Grady met by chance at 1515 Cafe where Starr is a barrista. The cafe is across the street from the Detroit Opera house (but more on that later). Overhearing the filmmakers talking about the city’s plan to demolish historic Michigan Station, Starr interrupts to add her own unique perspective. Turns out one of her passions is getting inside Detroit’s old buildings to videotape what she finds before they are gone. Taking the filmmakers along with her on one of her expeditions, she gazes out the window from the top floor of an old mansion and dreams about what it would be like to wake up and have your morning coffee from a glorious vantage point; ““Look at your view in the morning, like yeah. I am going to go out and conquer the world because I can damn near see it from right here.”

Still by Wolfgang Held

Tommy Stephens is a retired school teacher and owner of the Raven Lounge on the east side of the city. He has been in Detroit for 40 years and  knows everyone who comes into his bar by name. He talks frankly about the daily frustrations he witnesses, cautioning that when the future is this grim revolution feels like the only solution for many people (Amen brother).

Still by Tony Hardmon

George McGregor, President of United Auto Workers Local 22, has been in Detroit since 1967. Working his way up from assembly line worker to UAW president, he defends the right of his union workers to earn a livable wage. However in the film they go heart-to-pocketbook with the owners of a plant eager to move operations to Mexico. Witnessing the demoralizing effect on workers who are asked to take a $3.30 hourly pay cut (from $14.00 to $10.70) only to have the plant eventually close anyway is excruciating.

Still by Tony Hardmon

Musical scenes from the Detroit Opera performing Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado punctuate the transitions of several stories while pointing to the paternalistic relationship between the big three auto makers and the city – especially its cultural institutions. The film painfully demonstrates how Detroit has been unable to reinvent itself. Unlike Cleveland and Pittsburgh that diversified their corporate base by expanding into technology and premier hospitals, Detroit is buried by the weight of its past. In one scene a group of young men sit idly on a porch and reminisce about the neighborhood’s glory days. But the wonder they share belongs to their parents and grandparents generation. The scene suggests how palpably nostalgia reigns in the city. Other voices are the scrappers who work in teams scavenging empty buildings for scrap metal to sell for cash since no other employment is available.

Still by Tony Hardmon

And young artists who are moving to Detroit in droves because the median home price is $54,000, which is $100,000 less than the rest of the country. Although this appears to be good news, I admit I winced hearing one of these couples refer to Detroit as a “blank slate”. This assessment conveniently leaps over the long-term disenfranchised residents who can’t get to work (to pay their bills) because among other city cutbacks, night time bus routes have been eliminated in their communities. The impact is that long term residents are losing their homes while eager young outsider artists scoop up good deals only to make witty performance art that confuses the issues.

still by Tony Hardmon

This film is so moving because it presents an honest and balanced viewpoint, free from hyperbole. It’s not antagonistic or preachy – just the facts, which  are so tenderly recorded. Don’t miss it.