Sneak Peek

 

I've been back in my darkroom working on new photographs for an upcoming solo show in Frankfort, KY. I'll be showing in the Jane Chancellor Moore Gallery through January and February. The space is in a bank, so it's only fitting to exhibit this work. In fact it was my previous Currency portfolio that landed me the invitation.

I believe this will be the last time I'll be in the darkroom during my sabbatical so I made the most of it, creating 38 new prints. Although each photographs is unique, I have run into a bit of an issue because I have a limited number of different source images. For example, I have four Grants, six Jacksons, three Hamiltons, etc. I'll have to do some major editing to find uniquely singular prints.

As with my Botanical Studies, I continued to explored the mordançage process, and again faced new challenges and revelations with my results. All in all I'm very happy with what turned out and I'm excited to have an opportunity to put them on display.

The Little Things

Each semester I take students on a field trip to shoot photos at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington. As you can imagine I've been there quite a few times. As a result it can become difficult to find inspiration, feeling like I've seen it all before. However, one thing I often find interesting about a "landscape" is the residue of human activity left on a place. Last spring I noticed something that was interesting and fun – a little bit of a game. I've seen this before with chairs that have been placed or left in conspicuous places. But this time it was the cups.

Variations on a Theme

This week's post is a follow up to last week's. Since then I've been able to finish off this current set of prints, press and flatten them, and scan them on my antique flatbed scanner setup (as evidenced on my Instagram blog). In the end I produced multiples of 12 different photograms with a final total of 39 unique prints. The results have been quite nice in a number of the pieces. I've mentioned before that the mordançage process can be a bit unpredictable (although with more and more practice I'm developing a better feel on how to create certain results). As evidence I wanted show you four variations stemming from the same original photogram. With specific timings, manipulation, and chemistry combinations, a wide range of final prints can be achieved.

In the coming months I will be continuing to work in the darkroom to extend on a series of mordançage photographs in anticipation for a show at the Jane Chancellor Moore Gallery in Frankfort, KY in December.

Back to the Darkroom

New prints hanging to dry in the darkroom.

In the middle of October I will be participating in my first art fair of sorts. It will be in Louisville at Sojourn Community Church as part of their Affordable Art Show. Daniel Graham and I will be sharing a booth. With this deadline in mind I'm producing more new work along the lines of what I did for the Lexington Art League CSA project.

A wet print in which the veils were not popped. Too bad it didn't look this interesting once it dried.

I have been back in the darkroom experimenting with more botanical mordançage prints. I've learned a number of things since I made the Silver Dollars print. For starters, my enlarger was totally set up wrong, from the condenser lenses to the lamp height. It's a wonder the print even worked. After some quick adjustments and tests, those issues were worked out.

Some very unusual results in the background, although I'm not too crazy abut the final image.

The other part of the workflow that I've been able to explore more is the mordançage process itself. After making so many prints in a row (and now experimenting with a whole new batch of photograms) I've been able to find ways of controlling the tones and finished image. That said, there are still many results that seem unexplainable and random. But sometimes that bit of surprise is a boost that encourages me to keep exploring and finding something new.

This one turned out a little more predictable/traditional.

For the Affordable Art Show I am planning again to finish my prints with 11"x14" mat boards. In addition I'll be making digital reproductions, probably 5"x7" and/or 8"x10" prints on watercolor paper, to sell at a much lower price.

So far so good. Next thing on my list is to find a 10'x10' white tent.

On Display, Two Upcoming Shows in Louisville

 Unforeseen Visions: Untitled, #12

Two events coming up in the near future to check out. One serious event is the Louisville Photo Biennial. It is a month-long series described as "Louisville's premier photographic festival." I really encourage you to attend at least one of the events. There are shows, lectures, and more throughout the month of October focusing on three topics: Exchange/Generation, People, and Historic Processes. I was invited by Lee Ann Paynter to participate in a group show at Spot5 Art Center titled Process : Effect : Reconsider. It will feature seven regional photo faculty including myself, Lee Ann, Doreen Maloney, Ruth Adams, Rob Dickes, Keith Barker, and Rob Sewell.

Our show will be on display September 23–November 2 at Spot5 Art Center, 2005 Frankfort Ave, Louisville, KY. There will be receptions on October 4, 6:00–9:00 PM and October 25, 6:00–9:00 PM. I will be showing some of my old botanical mordançage work, Unforeseen Visions, to go along with the theme of historical processes.

Snowy Morning, BMW GS, Cincinnati, OH

In addition, I'll have a photograph on display this weekend in Louisville as part of the inaugural Kentucky Kick Down motorcycle show. There are all sorts of things happening, including a bike show, pool tournament, vendors, bike ride, and more. I'm planning to ride up with my old buddy Brian to check it out and see what sort of trouble we can get into. Granted, my sort of trouble is typically quite modest and reserved. If you're there, look for my photo at either The Monkey Wrench or The Barret Bar (age permitting). Should be interesting.

Fresh Batch of Photos

 I've returned to shooting medium format film for the past few years. I rediscovered a Twin Lens Reflex camera I had and I also bought an old Hasselblad. It's quite the antithesis to the shooting I do with my iPod. What I appreciate is the process of slowing down, making manual selections in terms of exposure and camera settings, and realizing I have a limited number of shots so important to be accurate and purposeful in what I do. One downside is the time it takes to process and edit the work. Although there may be a silver lining in that it gives you some down time from what you've shot that allows you to come back to the work with fresh eyes and greater perspective, sometimes.

 Since the spring I had accumulated 15 rolls of film. I finally got around to developing them a couple weeks ago. Many were shot on a recent trip to Savannah, some at home with my family, and (embarrassingly) a couple of them were from back 2010. I made contact sheets and have begun the slow process of making selections, scanning the negatives, and editing individual photographs.

I wanted to post a few of them to give you some ideas of what I've been shooting with my "serious" cameras.

 

I had a 10 year reunion with friends/classmates from SCAD in Savannah in May. Our get together included a fantastic group show. Here is Linda, Gray, Ryan, myself, and Nicole at Skidaway Island State Park.

 

During our visit we stayed at Tybee Island, one of our favorite places to shoot. I visited my old photo stomping grounds with similar but new perspective.

 I made this photo on our outing to Keeneland last semester. It was pretty overcast and gloomy, but I like that type of weather for the tone and contrast it provides.

 One of my most common and favorite subjects has been our children and life at home.

Here's Evy posing with her babies.

 And here is Owen in the middle of watching TV. He has to used headphones when we watches

Thomas the Train because the train whistle scares Emmet, our dog.

 And related to last week's post, this showed up on one of the first rolls I developed. The last time I visited my grandparents' house before it was sold, I took this picture of my grandmother's silver dollars where she displayed them over her kitchen sink.

LAL – CSA (Community Supported Art)

This summer I was invited to participate in a new project for the Lexington Art League. The LAL came across a new idea for raising support based on a concept similar to community supported agriculture, where people have the opportunity to purchase a share of produce from local and regional farmers. This same concept was applied to the idea of artists and art making. (Visit the Lexington Art League's webpage here.)

LAL, along with the Morris Bookshop and CD Central, commissioned nine artists (visual, poets/writers, musicians) to produce an edition of 50 original works exclusively for this CSA. We were provided with funding to help produce the work. And in the end each share, including nine works (one from each artist), was sold for $400.

I was very surprised and excited to be chosen as the sole photographer for this first CSA. And as

On Sabbatical

During the Fall 2013 semester I will be on sabbatical. For professors a sabbatical is an opportunity to take a rest from our regular teaching responsibilities and focus our efforts on personal work and other projects. For some this might be writing a book while others may be doing research related to their area of study. Typically a professor may apply for a sabbatical once every seven years, and it may last either one or two semesters.

People usually want to know your plans for your sabbatical. I actually had to apply for my semester off, and in that application I listed a variety of projects: some photographic work, some course planning and revisions, and possibly some travel. Funny enough I already miss being in the classroom and seeing everyone. It's a little strange to not be at school after 10 years of teaching. But I have plenty to keep me busy and I plan to keep you up to date on what I'm up to here on the GCVA blog.

For starters I've been working in my personal darkroom. It's at my parents' home in Versailles, KY. My dad and I built it many years ago but I've never really put it to use until now. Already this summer I worked on a major project for the Lexington Art League. (I'll post more about that next week.) And on the first day of classes for you, I was in the darkroom developing a personal record of medium format film in one day. I got a little help from my eager assistant, Owen.

In addition you might consider following my Instagram feed. I post photos regularly of places I visit, subjects and moments that catch my attention, and documentation of the projects on which I'm working.

 http://instagram.com/darrellkincer#

So until next time, thanks for readying, work hard, and I'll see you next week.

"of or suitable for the Sabbath"

Prefatory note: I hope that readers of the blog will enjoy our new feature of having regular posts of original content. Boris started things off last week and in turn, we've each added a bit of looking back, looking forward, or looking around. Please feel free to comment on our posts.

The subject of my post for this week is my mini-sabbatical. Typically, a sabbatical is time away from one's profession, over the course of one semester or an entire year. Faculty apply to "take" a sabbatical and, upon being awarded the sabbatical, they are able to spend the time in a way that is meaningful to them. It is hoped that this opportunity will, then, contribute to the greater good of the organization -- in this case, Georgetown College. Being granted a sabbatical is, in my opinion, both a reward and an affirmation from the college.

There are, if memory serves me correctly, three students among our art majors who would be able to recall the year that Boris was on sabbatical. He spent a good part of 2006-07 in New York, taking up a studio there, travelling to Australia to present material at a conference, and a number of other activities that a prolonged period away from regular teaching duties can provide. In the coming years Daniel and Darrell will make their applications for tenure and promotion, then also sabbatical. Having our faculty take sabbaticals is, I feel, an affirmation that your art faculty are scholars in their fields and, because of this, the college affords them time-off as a re-investment in us, affording us time for concentrated study.

Because of various administrative and other obligations, I have been awarded a mini-sabbatical (I think the term, actually is "staggered"). This means that I will be teaching half as many courses over the course of the year and, also, working, feverishly, on several projects over this year. One of these is curating an exhibition at the Loiusville Visual Arts Association. Another project is completing an essay on public sculpture that will appear in Choice, a publication of the American Library Association. These two projects are on the docket, and I've got several others in my Filofax.

I am not sure how many of these activities qualify as being "suitable for the Sabbath", as the etymology of "sabbatical" connotes, but I think that they are worthwhile. The projects that I have undertaken, and will continue to work on over the course of this year, are meaningful to me and enable (and will continue to enable) me to focus some attention and energy reading and researching topics that I love. I've already got a few books up my sleeve that I'd like to share on the blog in the coming weeks.

So, while you may see me less frequently on campus, know that my time is being spent reading and researching, sharing my work, and spreading the word about Georgetown College and our amazing galleries and department, including my colleagues and students. Thank you to everyone who has come by to visit this week to visit and to check in with me. I do appreciate it!

Dr. Decker (who goes by the pen name Earl Grey)