Laura Miner: Presence

Presence I © Laura Miner 2013

The image on the right is a photograph of milk in water.
A good amount of people viewed this image at two different craft fairs I vended at, and most thought it was smoke. It was still a fine guess. What I want to achieve is a ghostly image. This series of images is about me exploring the possibilities of capturing a presence; something hanging in the air. Something that twists, writhes and is unexplainable.

My goal is to essentially mix these images with those from the Tiny Ghosts post from May. Having wallpaper helps domesticate the scene, but I want to go forward with building tiny underwater sets with furniture and more complicated lighting.

My website features these images and two videos of the food dye and air bubbles in action. I hope to soon share the fully realized concept.

Presence II © Laura Miner 2013

Presence III © Laura Miner 2013

Presence IV © Laura Miner 2013

Presence V © Laura Miner 2013

Issue 5 On Sale Now!

Last month's exhibition at the Washington Street Art Center in Somerville was a great success. There was an excellent turnout and copies of Issue 5 were flying off the table. If you didn't get a chance to purchase one at the show, please go online to HP MagCloud and pick up a copy. Enjoy the photographs of ten diverse photographers and an introduction written by Caitie Moore of Aint-Bad Magazine. All books come with a free digital copy for download.
Thank you for supporting local artists!

Cover art by Laura Miner

Washington Street Art Center October 5th 2013

Back Row: Kitty Ethridge, Nicole Elkins, Traverse Robinette, Michael Powers  

Middle Row: Laura Miner, Kate Trennery, Dina Shaposhnikova, Hannah Bemelmans 

Front Row: Hannah Engelson and Brian Fitzgibbons

Traverse Day Robinette: A Thing Called Love

District of Columbia; Part One, 2010 © Traverse Day Robinette

I want to show a moment in time when I was in love. A time when nothing mattered except to be with this individual. It has been over three years since that summer. I can’t forget this time, nor am I suppose to. 

District of Columbia; Fireworks, 2010 © Traverse Day Robinette

 Our past is not always something we want to remember yet it is a part of us regardless of what we want. Our memories make us who we are. Saying this doesn’t make it any easier for me to share these images.

New York City; Window, 2010 © Traverse Day Robinette

 You were always away during the summer and I had to go looking for you. You were pursuing those dreams of yours. I just didn’t know it yet, but I was not in those dreams. 

New York City; Fountain, 2010 © Traverse Day Robinette

Shadows of a memory are all that remain. You slipped away. We drifted away.

Ponkapoag Shadows, 2010 © Traverse Day Robinette

C.R.I.T. Quarterly: Issue 5 Release Party

This is number FIVE! Saturday,October 5th, from 6:00 till 9:00 pm, C.R.I.T. will be having their 5th book release party. The Washington Street Art Center in Somerville, MA is generously hosting this event and an exhibition of our work. Artwork will be on display from now till October 13th.

Image: ©Laura Miner, Design: ©Nicole Elkins

The Fall 2013 issue includes the works of Traverse Day Robinette, Laura Miner, Hannah Bemelmans, Michael Powers, Nichole Elkins, Dina Shaposhnikova, Kitty Ethridge, and three new arrivals: Brian Fitzgibbons, Hannah Engelson and Kate Trenerry.

The introduction to this issue was written by Caitie Moore, photographer and co-founder of Aint-Bad Magazine.

Copies of Issue 5 will on sale at The Washington Street Art Center during the reception and will officially be available online at magcloud.com the same day.

Can't wait to see you there!

Hannah Engelson: Sleepers

I started the series “Sleepers” in 2010. The first photo I made without much thought. However, it's turned out to be one of my favorite images to date (see below)

Shane © Hannah Engelson

I was running late to one of my last morning classes as an undergraduate. Still half asleep, I turned back to say goodbye to Shane before leaving. I noticed the curtain had come undone and a small patch of light was sifting in. I sleepily took a couple photos instead of waking him. All the while, wishing I could get back into bed.

Train Sleepers © Hannah Engelson

In India I was always stuck by how people seemed so comfortable being in close proximity to one another. I was dozing in the top bunk of a (to put it mildly) hot, crowded train when I looked down and saw some fellow passengers asleep. 

Xing & Emily © Hannah Engelson

During Winter Storm Nemo a group of friends and I camped out at my friend Meredith's house. We knew we would be trapped wherever we were when the snow started to fall and decided we might as well make sure we were trapped together.

The Hobbit © Hannah Engelson

In the midst of a Boston heatwave, a friend from work needed a place for him and his friends to stay. Their initial plan was to sleep on a friend’s floor between attending a gaming convention. I countered by offering them the couches at the home I was house sitting. They referred to themselves as the “Hobbits” who had found their way to the comfort of air conditioning and a fully stocked refrigerator of "Rivendell".

I made this picture before they woke up despite strong feelings of guilt for not offering a blanket the night before.

Michael Powers: Memories

Caitlin © Michael Powers

Caitlin and I had to balance across the beams to reach the abandoned trunks. We almost fell through the insulation; luckily, we made the journey safely to the other side. It was October or November. It should have been cold in the attic but it was at least 85 degrees. I still can’t believe she stayed still for one second. Do you know how long a second is for a photographer? I thought this photograph was going to be an awful, blurry, under exposed image. Brian Fitzgibbons later commented about the image, “It looks very cinematic almost like it could be a film still.” The rest is history.

I was 15 years old when my Grandfather died. I wish I had spent more time with him and asked him more questions. He was a Doctor that enjoyed oil painting. I like to think that he if he saw my photographs of their Cape Cod home he would show me his crooked smile and give me that hug I don’t remember getting from him. I remember the glass bowl of Bulls-Eye candies on the kitchen cabinet. I liked that he knew I was always looking forward to them.

Grandma Dresser © Michael Powers

Madeline © Michael Powers

 This is the first time I met Madeline. She is the daughter of my cousin. I haven’t seen her in a few years. Her brother Harry and she were shy upon meeting me. Madeline saw my large camera and wanted to know what it did. I told her, “Stand still and I will show you.” 

Daydream © Michael Powers

  In my self-portrait I’m holding a silver boat in the bathtub. I also have a mustache to look more like my Father. This one is entitled, “daydream” because I tend to get lost in my imagination (something I did as a child playing in the tub and something I will continue to do forever). 

Telephone © Michael Powers

 It was my first time I went to Lake Sunapee. I’ve only been there three times but I know it’s one of the most magical places I will ever visit. Inside is preserved like a time capsule from the eighties.  I remember not knowing what was upstairs and to my delight I found an old telephone still being used.  I hope that one day I can go back to this wonderful place.

Kate Trenerry: Documenting Division in Israel/Palestine, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland

Boundary Way, West Belfast, Northern Ireland ©Kate Trenerry

Walls are built as an instrument of political partition to bring clarity and focus to sectarian conflicts within neighborhoods, terrorist attacks throughout cities, even all-out war across a country. I brought my camera to Israel/Palestine, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland to complicate and blur my understanding of these divided societies and the people who live in them.

Cupar Way, West Belfast, Northern Ireland ©Kate Trenerry

In early 2012, I set out to understand and document the effects of the Israeli Separation Barrier, the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, and the Peace Lines of Northern Ireland on the places and people they divide. I spent a total of three months on the road, during which time I attempted to walk along as much of the barriers as possible.

Rural Checkpoint near Qalqilya, Palestine ©Kate Trenerry

Walls and borders imply a dualistic view of space, yet all of their power depends on how people interpret and interact with these spaces. Borders are where the rules change, if someone enforces them.

The Edge of the Buffer Zone, Nicosia, Cyprus ©Kate Trenerry

During my journey, I met people who were walls and people who were bulldozers. I encountered city blocks that were inviolable boundaries. I was entranced by parallel of lights in hazy distance that represented deadly borders. Walls are dramatic and easy to photograph, but the way they seep into the landscape and people around them are difficult for outsiders to detect, much less understand or document. My work serves as a record of my own travels in these borderlands as an attempt to document the everyday reality of these brutal barriers, but to also investigate questions and inconsistencies that arise from their attempt to create duality in modern political cases that are too complex to be cast in black and white.

Walajeh, Palestine ©Kate Trenerry

For more of Kate's work go to www.kateincolor.com

Laura Miner: Tiny Ghosts

My latest developing project involves staging ghost photography on a small scale. The goal is not necessarily to debunk images  of supposedly real ghosts. I want to challenge myself with the task of creating illusions with my digital camera without the aid of layering in Photoshop. In line with other projects of mine, I want to create images that are unsettling, yet soft in their delivery. Also in line with other projects, I will continue to work on a small scale.

©Laura Miner 2013

As a child, I loved playing in my doll house (featured in the photographs in this post). I would also make my own doll apartments on shelves and dresser tops all over my grandparents' house. My grandparents were much more patient with this behavior than my parents were. Shrinking down and living in the homes I made was a fantasy of mine.

 After I grew older and stopped playing in that way, photography facilitated that fantasy. I was drawn to photographing miniatures and dolls because in a photograph you edit the world around you. I could make the size of my small creations ambiguous; an easier feat making them my size rather than shrinking myself. 

©Laura Miner 2013

©Laura Miner 2013

I want to believe in ghosts, but I'm not completely willing to go all in without more proof. As a fan of ghost stories and as a photographer, I am attracted to supposed images of ghosts. What are the possibilities of recording beyond our line of sight?

With this series, I want the audience to ask themselves how it could be possible. I want them to be excited by the notion of apparitions and other worldly spirits, while also questioning the scale and reality of the room. 

These initial shots from my childhood dollhouse are exploring the terrain. These images give the impression of which angles I'm attracted to, the lighting scheme and the mood. I plan to go in again with more tricks up my sleeve to create the apparitions.

C.R.I.T. Quarterly: Issue 4 Release Party

Cover Image: © Kitty Ethridge

This Saturday, May 11th, from 6:00 till 9:00 pm, C.R.I.T. will be having their 4th book release party. Located at Refuge Cafe in Allston, MA, the members of C.R.I.T. will have their photographs on display from the day of the release till June 17th.

The Spring 2013 issue includes the works of Traverse Day Robinette, Laura Miner, Hannah Bemelmans, Michael Powers, Nichole Elkins, Dina Shaposhnikova, and Kitty Ethridge.

The introduction was beautifully written by Sarah Pollman, photo blogger and producer of the fine art photography publication 3200K.

Copies of Issue 4 will on sale at Refuge Cafe during the reception and will officially be available online at magcloud.com the same day.

Please join us for light refreshments, drinks, and always ... inspiring photography. 

Refuge Cafe 155 Brighton Ave. Allston, MA 02134

Saturday May 11th 2013 6pm - 9pm 

Poster Design © Doug Harry, Poster Images ©Laura Miner and Dina Shaposhnikova

Traverse Day Robinette: For Whom the Bell Tolls

February 2011 I went for a long weekend in Hancock Vermont. I had planned on shooting black and white landscapes.  Somehow I forgot my film and only had 10 sheets of 4x5 instant film and a two sheets of slide and two sheets of black and white film in my film holders. Times like these one wonders why does anyone still shoot film.

Self Portrait; For Whom the Bell Tolls, 2011 © Traverse Day Robinette

I did some hiking and a bit of shooting. Mostly I froze my fingers off while trying to make images in the icy woods of Vermont. I made a few instant images at Texas Falls and they were technically off. I had intended to have the scene back lit but my cold hands took so long to set up the shot that the sun actually moved from behind the tree. It is a sad day when the sun moves faster than you. I had two choices, 1) Move my camera to another vantage point and start over or 2) Stay put and make the image shooting straight into the sun. As you have probably have guessed I was not interested in loosing another race to the sun. I must say it was hard for me to let go and make an image where I knew I had given up control.

Snowfall, 2011 © Traverse Day Robinette

Life is a funny thing and photography is no less strange. My photography professor Nick Nixon once said “Make pictures now and ask questions later”. Unfortunately at the time this was of little use, while in college everyone wanted questions answered “now”.  These words have been echoing in the back of my mind since graduation. I consistently find myself photographing without reason or direction of events pertaining to daily life. Answers to these questions seem to surface years later and bring a greater focus to works already made. This is something I had never anticipated to happen.

It Tolls for Thee, 2011 © Traverse Day Robinette

I put these images aside and did not think of them for some time. They represented the scene not as I had wanted them to, but in a totally different manner.   After a year or so I found myself drawn to the quiet beauty they held.  I started to form a story and to think how they were like scenes from “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway. I had brought along this novel while on my trip and I found myself reading in the window. It was snowing outside and in the book. I look at these images from Texas Falls and they represent the snow fall and what was to come.  This sequence was also contrived with the purpose of representing my insecurities with what is before life and after death.