Theo has several projects on his website, but I chose to look at the Bethlehem steel project. I am torn between two readings of this project. The first reading is that of a memorial to the monumental power of the steel industry in building the nation and the lives of those in Pennsylvania who worked for the industry. In this reading, Theo’s project is quite a success. The second reading I get from this work (and this is influenced by the title) is a concern for the people who lost their jobs as the steel industry collapsed. In this manner, I don’t think the work is as successful.

    The entire project shows beautiful attention to detail and texture in the historical buildings of the Bethlehem Steel Plants. There is a monumental quality to the all the images,

The first question I have for Sean when looking at his portraits is this: When you make a portrait, are you seeing yourself through the lens, or trying to show me something about the person you are photographing? Portraits are about so much more than technique, and work as a collaboration. The portraits I see in this portfolio seem to be focused much more on technique than the person in the frame, and that’s where the ambiguity comes in - I think that Sean needs to focus more specifically on what he wants to accomplish by making the portraits. Are we supposed to learn about the person being photographed, or are they acting to represent some larger ideal? I don’t want to discourage the pursuit of the portrait however. I will be the first to admit that it is a challenge to photograph another person. What I do want to suggest is to keep working - perhaps set up some kind of studio environment where you are limited to the same lighting/background, and then see about trying to coax the person out in the image. I think this is where the strength will come through, and then you can begin to experiment with the techniques, because right now, the techniques tend to overpower the subject. With some work though, this will change, because there is a measure of creativity here that I think can bring out some great images.

 

which is why I think the ‘Memorial” reading of the project works better than the idea of searching for the people and the past in the steel industry. I’m drawn more to the contemplation of the empty space than to an inquiry about who has vacated the space. I looked at Theo’s website a few times, and only on this last time (on a different computer) did I notice that the project was titled “where’s joe” - the naming of the ‘ghost’ actually disappointed me. The power of titling and naming projects can have such an impact on work that it is best to use caution and make sure your work actually conveys what the title is presenting. Based on the title, I want to see Joe. I want to know where his house is, I want to see the tire tracks out of his driveway and the path he took to work. I want to know where he ate his lunch with his co-workers. The project as it stands tells me more about the state of the industry, but not the state of the people who worked in it, and whose lives have been changed by the industry’s collapse.

There is a lot to choose from on Eric Klemm’s website - from portraits to still life arrangements to landscapes. I decided to review the Metamorphosis work, a series about abandoned cars. The images are cool to look at - really cool. It’s incredibly easy to wonder where these cars are...how did they get there? Did someone crash them? Were they stolen? The images start a story that your mind is given the chance to finish...sort of. I like art that leads to more questions than answers. It’s easy to get lost in some of the vintage detailing of the cars, and to revisit the images for more details. The only problem I have is with the repetition of certain cars. Seeing them from different points of view in the same series causes fractures in the success of the series for me because the images become more documentation than mysterious and seductive narrative. It doesn’t have the same impact and mystery.

I prefer being given the opportunity to explore a narrative with this kind of imagery. The documentation of old cars (with repeated images) tends toward a fascination with texture and ‘cool’ history - so I would encourage more shooting, and tighter editing.