Brittany Demilio

by Stephanie Price

Brittany Demilio is finishing her study of photography at the Tyler School of Art in the spring of 2013. She has recently received the Caras Grant to continue the creation of her current body of work entitled “I and Thou”. The term “I and Thou” or “Ich and Du”comes from the theories of German philosopher and writer, Martin Buber. After years of making art, Brittany has found her interest in philosophy and literature inspires her photographic concepts. She defines the “I and Thou” theory as a relationship between subject and subject, where only the realness of the person is considered. The “I and It” relationship is also confronted in Brittany’s current body of work. Opposite of the “I and Thou” relationship is “I and It”, which Brittany describes as a subject to object relationship, that is a relationship lacking a genuine connection. In these works, Brittany picks a subject and takes two portraits of them. The first image is taken when she meets her subject. This image is a simple frontal portrait, that for the viewer and for Brittany, is empty of feeling and lacks awareness of the personality of the individual. This initial portrait is the representation of a “I and It” relationship. The only place that the viewer will come in contact with this image is in the book Brittany is making about the series. Otherwise She has no intention of showing the “I and It” portrait to the viewer in her up coming show of the series this spring. The second portrait is taken after a conversation is had between Brittany and her subject. This portrait is candid and taken when Brittany feels the relationship has developed into a “I and Thou” relationship. This picture allows the viewer to experience the raw nature of her subject. Brittany remembers each conversation she was engaged in when she captured the image that will be seen by the audience in her show. Although Brittany primarily works with photographic images, their will be a sculptural element in her spring show. The “I and Thou” portraits will also be lit by hand made light-boxes that will hang behind her images on the walls of her exhibition space. The “I and Thou” sculptural portraits will illuminate the presence of the models in Brittany’s show this spring.

Eunice Yu

 Eunice started consciously making pictures in her second year of college.  Her experiences with other mediums eventually led her to photography, where she began using the camera to connect with people.  Her first series of pictures was that of the people on benches.  She started to document things, and appreciating them as it was, and not just because she was now looking at it with a camera in hand.  Her work shown here of astronomical spaces and interiors came from a more inward use of the camera.  Eunice began thinking about space and places she can’t actually see or go in real life.  Layers and accessibility are big themes in both of these late works.

Photograph from Seascapes by Hiroshi Sugimoto

When I look at Eunice’s work, I see a transcendence of space in what would be called a window, a hole from one space to another.  The outside world is framed by the interior space in a way that sections it off from the viewer as inaccessible.  The lush green exterior is photographed in a restricted manner purposefully.  In her cosmic images, the exact opposite happens where the subject is photographed so that it appears to be what it is envisioned to be outside of its context.  The bench photographs are the most interesting to me however, without the portrait added to them.  They are some of the most unique and complete images I have seen, and emote a stronger and broader feeling than the rest of her work, although it is all successful. 

Her work of people sitting on benches reminds me of Irving Penn’s studio portraits.  The similarity of use of a constant environment with changing subjects within that environment creates a study of individuals and their interactions with each other, but the styles are different in their message.  The more introverted work is not unlike the work of Hiroshi Sugimoto.  Sugimoto’s work compares more emotionally to Eunice’s than it does formally, particularly the comfort as is felt in the cosmic images.

Two Studio Portraits by Irving Penn

Joshua Hopkins

 

            It was during high school that Josh Hopkins first discovered his interest in photography. He went on a field trip to D.C. and visited the Corcoran Gallery of Art, where they were showing Ansel Adams pieces. Josh knew what photographs were, but he did not know they could function in such a way. It changed his perspective about photography. As he ventured out in DC that same day and photographed the things around him, Josh realized it wasn’t that simple to get the results he wanted.  The challenge of it fed his interest.

            The first images he made were expressive, exploring the medium. It was exciting, and Josh was happy that people reacted positively to his images, but he was not impressed himself. He was reacting to the things in the world but the pictures weren’t more interesting to him than the actual place. Many of the pictures at the start of the career had no relevance to Josh. He knew what he liked, but did not quite know how to create it yet.

            Josh briefly talked about his visit to the Eastern state penitentiary. The way he first photographed the place was influenced by what the public was generally interested in. And then 3 years later when he went back and photographed, the images reflected the way he saw it. He was able to look much more at what he was interested in, and capture that. Over the years, Josh’s ability to make images in a way that reflects his own interests and perspectives has become matured and strengthened. This connects to the way Josh approaches photography now.

            A specific series of images Josh shared with me were the ones taken in Ocean City. I asked him if there was theme, and he said that he knows that he feels a certain way, although he doesn't say what that is exactly. Josh make images by “allowing the complexity of human emotions to decide what types of images are going to be made based on a certain mood or certain feeling, instead of consciously trying to find those things in images”.

            For the most part, people equate places such as Ocean City with words such as: summer, beach, fun, happy, sun, friends, relaxing, stress-free. There is a preconceived notion of certain places, and Josh’s images challenge those notions; challenging what a place is suppose to be verses what it really is, to him.

 He has a certain attitude and perspective of Ocean City, and that is revealed through the way he photographs individuals in the images, as well as the way the image is composed and created. 

In taking time to look at each photograph in the Ocean City series, I really began to appreciate the consistent mood of the work despite the variety of the subjects. There was a feeling of sadness evoked from the images that I could familiarize myself with. Josh’s work tunes in to things that we as society grow to accept, or ignore.  And by looking at the work, viewers are forced to face another reality different from the one they’ve grown accustomed to.

            Josh always thought a self-portrait is more of the pictures you make of the world, than pictures you make of yourself. His ability to utilize the content in his images as a self-portrait is subtle, yet powerful.  

review by: Eunice Yu

Tara Tayan

Tara Tayan is originally from Springfield PA, just outside of the city. While interested in photography since high school, music was her original passion. Artistic both visually and musically, she decided upon photography when she realized she wanted to surround herself with art, photography and other artistic people. 

Tara  is well-known in the department for her dream-like and often very experimental work. While her work is based in photographic media, they transcend barriers and begin to meld with painting. Her images often combine the human with nature or texture. Above all, their beauty is haunting. I sat with her and tried to figure out where such inspiration and vision comes from.

Pick one word to describe your work. 

Surreal. I like to have the ambiguity and dreamlike quality to my images.

When did you first find an interest in photography and when did you decide you wanted to pursue it seriously?

I took my first photography class when I was a freshman in high school. At the time I didn’t even think of going to art school. I wanted to pursue music. And even when I was applying I wanted to look at schools that had a good music program. I was in band up until my freshman year of college playing the alto saxophone. But at that point I realized that I wanted to surround myself with art, photography, and artful people.

You said your senior work (at least last what I saw of the skin painted white) was an old idea revisited. How has it evolved?

I started this work my senior year of high school when I painted my friends and family. I referenced a painter named Arcimboldo, who did these paintings of faces that were made up of fruits or wheat. The photographs I did were of the seasons. Each person would be painted a different color scheme and they would have similar colored flowers or leaves to accentuate the season. I wanted to play with the face blending into these elements and coming forward towards the viewer. 

When I started doing the white forms (painted white forms) I saw this as a new outlet to play with paint, something that I had worked with before to give the photograph a different look.

Who's work inspires you and why? Also, what inspires you?

I have just recently found the work of Alex Prager, who does these photographs of these women in absurd, weird positions, so they look like dolls. I love the color in these photographs as well. I am also inspired by Polixeni Papapetrou. This photographer deals with issues of identity within contemporary culture through themes of childhood. I love when I read about these cool ideas. Sometimes its nothing what I expected when I actually come to look at the photographs. Papapetrou photographs are interesting because they are surreal. I am also interested by Jane Burton’s work, who does many of these poetic, monochromatic images. These images are interesting because they are a similar take on what I am doing. 

I love looking at surrealist artist, my favorite being Magritte. The idea of their lucid dreams being their inspiration is so weird and abstract. I love that sometimes the images can make sense and some just don’t. 

I am inspired by natural objects, watercolors, and collections. I love having many objects that are all different in their own way.

A lot of your work has a very painterly aspect to it. Can you describe the your combination of process and photography? Do you shoot pictures with a preconceived idea of how you want them to look or do you work more intuitively?

I love other media especially watercolors and fibers (dying). I like the flowy and watery look to these mediums. Much like the processes that I enjoy in photography they are unplanned and have unexpected results. They are all mediums where I can take a little bit of a chance and have less control because if it doesn’t work… oh well. My mom always taught me how to make mistakes work so I figure something has to come out.

I like to shoot intuitively. I have an idea somewhat of how the photos will come out, but I think that it’s more exciting and fun when you have no idea what you’re shooting. It’s somewhat freeing.

Where do you see your work going in the future? Are there any ideas you want to explore or techniques you want to try?

I see myself trying new alternative processes. I would like to explore more with liquid light, gum printing, and more processes that I have yet to try and work with. 

As for the white forms I feel that they can be explored in a new way, I think I would like to move on to others. I would like to have multiples white forms in the frame. I think that would change the context of the image.

Reviewed and written by Heather Lewis.

Brianna Collins

Brianna Marie Collins was born on July 21 in 1991, in the small village of Hamlin, Pennsylvania.  She joined a band in 2005, which allowed her to travel outside Hamlin to larger cities, and then she made the choice to move to Philadelphia in 2009. She always knew that she wanted to live in a bigger city: “There was definitely a small town mentality that I did not feel like I could relate to.” Tyler School of Art became her choice school because it was far enough away from Hamlin, but not far enough that she couldn’t go visit friends and family every once in a while. When she bought her first DSLR, Brianna used her photographs mostly for painting visual references. When she applied to Tyler, she had every intention on majoring in painting, soon to realize that some painting instructors did not appreciate Brianna’s style of painting. She took a darkroom photography class in high school, and decided that the photography department at Tyler was the best fit for her. Brianna is currently majoring in Photography with a concentration in Art Education. 

Q: Where do you see yourself as an artist? Ultimate goals? Dreams/Ambitions?

A: My dream would to be successful as an artist. I don’t see myself necessarily represented by a gallery, but I want people to enjoy my work and also buy my work. I would define success as me making enough money to live while still doing what I love. I am also pursing an Art Education certification. I would love to be a high school photography teacher or an elementary art schoolteacher, while still maintaining a studio practice. I am also thinking about going to grad school and then teaching at a collegiate level.

Q: Do you shoot digital or analog or both?

A: I prefer to shoot analog, although I do enjoy the combination of analog and digital practices, such as scanning in film and printing digitally. I love alternative processes and ways that a photograph can be represented in ways other than a digital print. I think that I just shoot better on analog than digital, whether it’s 35mm or 4x5.

Q: What are some of your influences, both personal and cultural?

A: My personal influences derive from the selfishness of being a 21 year old. I am interested in what is immediate and interesting to me, such as my friends or what we do with our time. Joyce Tenneson revealed in her lecture the other day that she was doing the same thing, photographing young women, but it took her a while to realize that she was actually depicting herself in the ways that she represented these young women. This made me think of the way that I shoot. I find myself drawn to photographing my friends, particularly my friends who remind me of myself in certain ways. I am interested in the portrait and how it is a visual display of information about a particular person.

Q: What are the overarching themes of your work?

A: In my previous work the obvious theme was women. I prefer photographing women to men, and I think that’s because I have an idea of how I like to be photographed, and I project this idea onto the way that I photograph another woman. This also has to do with the relation to my own identity. I did a series titled Recontre Entre Individus, which was a visual exploration on the beauty of aging in women, and how I would photograph women that I did not know versus women that I did know.

Another recurring element in my 35mm color work is a snapshot aesthetic. Most of my 35mm images are capturing a moment or an event of something that I find important to describe about my friends and myself.

The latest thematic exploration that I am delving in is the area of Northeastern Pennsylvania. From railroad tracks to warehouses, there are remnants of the early 20^th century that define the history and feeling of the area. My current work explores time, reference to the history of photography in the way that I choose to shoot these images (4x5 camera), and my own personal relation to these areas with portraits of myself, and also a portrait of the person who opened my eyes to a lot of these areas.

Review by Mindy Karper