Family of Man Redux

I'm happy to announce that one of my photographs was accepted for my first gallery show outside of college.You are formally invited to hobnob with mucketymucks while partaking in free cheese!

Ah, the life of an artist.

Final Project: Abstraction of Environment

Project Prospectus:

For my final project I will be presenting images of everyday objects in a new way. The subject matter will consist of the items that are in my studio. I will be presenting them in 4:5 format. The subjects will be taken out of their normal context by the use of isolation and selective focus. The final images will be displayed in the room that contains the items. The project has a site-specific quality to it, in the sense that I intend the viewer to recognize the items in the room as the subject matter after viewing the images.

The following images are the final work. Enjoy. -Tim

Project 4: Environment

The following images were taken for my Black and White Photography class. This assignment was to create images for a specific environment. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit my Niece, Meagan, at her school. She is studying to become a pastry chef at the Star Academy in Syosett. Not only did I get great images but all the ice cream and cookies I could eat! They should all be this tough. Enjoy. -Tim

Project 3: Street Photography

The following images were taken for my Black and White Photography class. This assignment was to get my boots on the ground and get some images from out and about. All of the images were taken throughout eastern Long Island. Enjoy. -Tim

Project 2: The Photogram

A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The usual result is a negative shadow image that shows variations in tone that depends upon the transparency of the objects used. Areas of the paper that have received no light appear white; those exposed through transparent or semi-transparent objects appear grey.

The technique is sometimes called cameraless photography. It was used by Man Ray in his exploration of rayographs. Other artists who have experimented with the technique include László Moholy-Nagy, Christian Schad (who called them "Schadographs"), Imogen Cunningham and Pablo Picasso. Variations of the technique have also been used for scientific purposes.

Project 1: The Portrait

The following images are for my Black and White Analog Photography class. You may notice that some have a rough border to them. This effect was obtained by using a negative easel that was gently filed around the edge. In the spirit of Henri Cartier-Bresson,  I used this to validate the photo's authenticity, as to show that the image was not cropped. Enjoy. -Tim

(Photography-Digital) = (Stress+Magic)

Any photographer worth their salt should know how developer tastes. I'm not saying that we should pour it in a rocks glass and muddle some fruit and bitters into it. What I am saying, is that to understand the soul of photography, one should take the opportunity to create an image from film. This is why I decided to take a Black & White photography class at Stony Brook.

When I was younger, all we had was film. I even worked in a darkroom for a period of time, developing and making prints by hand for a local newspaper. Like most people of the pre-digital world, an outing would consist of one or two rolls of film in my pocket for the day. Only a real serious shutterbug would have more than three rolls of film in his arsenal. At the end of the day, we would mail them off or visit the local drugstore and drop off our film. The waiting was measured by the day or by the hour if you got fancy and visited the "Photomat". One thing was for sure though, there was no way you knew that you had anything until you opened the envelope that contained your prints and negatives.

When you finally got your prints, it was magical. You would open the envelope like a child on Christmas, that didn't know if he was naughty or nice. Photographs were relics of the day. If you were especially nice, you would get a second set printed up to distribute to the people who shared the day with you. They were kept in your wallet, taped to your dashboard and used as bookmarks in your favorite book. They were mailed in cards and hung up on your mirror.

We flash forward to today. I now consider myself an avid photographer, with years of experience and formal education under my belt. Armed with lenses that cost more than my car and enough lights to land a jet with. My darkroom is now my computer and my Photomat now sits on my end table, at the ready. I can now share my images with the world through many social media options or simply post them to my website. In today's world it's not uncommon to take several hundred pictures in one afternoon. It is even more common to delete more than you took. So where does this leave our venerated friend that was once revered for it's magical properties?

The digital image is here to stay. There is no fighting the tide of advancement. The "selfie" is now ingrained into the history book of photography. Lewis Hine's noble immigrants have been replaced with duck-faced, teenage girls and Irving Penn's still lifes of food have been supplanted by a snapchat image of today's lunch at Subway. As the global community spreads, it is no surprise that we are becoming a people of visual communication. Emotes and info graphics bombard our daily lives. Instant gratification takes too long. Thanks is now Thx, and sarcasm has become a dying art.

As I stand on my my soapbox and pontificate platitudes on the evils of technology, I point my digital camera out to the world. I take the shot of the unwashed heathens and look at the back of my camera like a chimpanzee. Am I an arrogant hypocrite who should reject the tools of the day and retreat to the basement? There has to be a happy medium.

Photographer: Tom Chambers

Tom Chambers was born and raised on a farm in the Amish country of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Since 1998 Tom has devoted himself to photomontage for sharing the intriguing unspoken stories which reflect his view of the world and elicit feelings in the viewer.

 In this photomontage, entitled, “Pieta”, we find the iconic representation of Mary with the body of Jesus. Through the use of warm hues, the tone of the image is passionate and inviting. The use of a strong directional light originating from high in the scene attributes a divine presence to the theme. The use of the reoccurring spherical shapes found in the halos, the light globes and the arch in the doorway compositionally tie the image together. In all, I found Chambers technical prowess with integrating the elements inspiring.