Thursday, November 15, 2012

Heather Lewis


         Heather Lewis grew up in a small town in the Poconos call Canadensis. Striving for different surroundings she came to Tyler, to the city. The city became a big part of her work and her inspiration. Growing up, Heather always enjoyed all mediums of art and initially wanted to be a painter. However, her sophomore year digital photography class in high school drew her in. Her recent project is about the gentrification of Philadelphia, which was inspired by the book, The Death and Life of the Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. She shows the creation and destruction of the factories and the lofts of the city. She shows the ever fluctuating life that cities have. The latest work from this project is a few panoramas that are vibrant and void of people. The panoramas are very different from her other shots of the city. She packs a lot of information in a little amount of space and it draws the viewer in. The following is a Q&A I conducted with Heather:

What are your inspirations?
The city is a big part of my inspiration. It's definitely a different environment from my hometown, but that's what is so fascinating. I love the hustle and bustle. I love the colors at night. I love the graffiti and the store fronts. I love all the ethnic neighborhoods. I can get so many different images without leaving the city. But I think the best part is that the city is constantly changing, so a year from now I can shoot something new. And in ten years, a whole new landscape will appear. (into

Who are your favorite photographers/ artists?
Berenice Abbott, Eugene Atget, Gabriele Basilico, Saul Leiter, Fred Herzog, Robert Frank, pretty much all of the New York School of Photographers. Dorothea Lange is another big one for me, especially recently. I think her work during the Depression really relates to much of our own generation. I also really love French Impressionist painters like Manet, Monet, and Degas. Also William Turner.

What is your favorite image/ images?
That's a tough one.
I always go back to one image by Robert Frank in The Americans where there are two people looking out their windows and an American flag is blocking their faces. It reminds me to always be ready because that moment will never happen again.
I also return to all of Saul Leiter's work where he shoots through windows and store doors. Rainy and snowy days don't mean don't shoot; they mean shoot through a window for a whole new atmosphere.

Explain you process/ studio practice.
Admittedly, it's fairly sporadic. I bring my camera everywhere, even if I'm just headed to work and I make it a point to shoot everyday. Somedays I'll intentionally take the entire day to just go out and photograph, but often I find I see the best things when I'm not looking for them. Unfortunately that doesn't work when I have X amount of prints due the following week! In that regard, a lot of my process is research: finding neighborhoods, buildings, and even trying to find demolition times.
When it comes to editing, I edit what I like/ what is needed for assignments, but I never delete anything. Call it cyber-hoarding if you will, but in my down time I like to go through things I shot months before. I usually find something new. To me, its kind of like the surprise I get shooting film, where I had forgotten I had taken that image and it reappears as something completely fresh.

Explain your recent project regarding gentrification. How is it coming along?/ Where do you see it going?
Well, it originated from reading The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. Her themes of decay, renewal and diversity within cities caused me to look at Philadelphia in a new light and really analyze it. I started to see Philadelphia's history as the "Workshop of the World" with all its abandoned and still existing factories and how these shaped the neighborhoods- some factories still lie dormant in dangerous neighborhoods while others are renewed into studios, lofts, or offices and those neighborhoods become gentrified and vital again like Northern Liberties and Fishtown is in the process.
It's going slow, but well. I have such a broad topic that I'm finding my difficulty in expressing my idea concisely within only several images. At the same time, the struggle is half the fun for me.

Do you see yourself doing this project after school?
I definitely see this continuing after graduation for me. North Broad looks like it will be the next section up for resurrection. A man named Eric Blumenfeld recently bought the Divine Lorraine and is partnered with the owner of the Metropolitan Opera House to renovate them. Paired with Temple's ever-expanding campus, those buildings could easily begin the revolution of North Broad Street.

Are there other social issues you’d like to take on?
Definitely. I'm very interested in war and conflict photography.

Would you like to focus on the areas of Pennsylvania later or other places/spaces?
Growing up in the coal mine regions, I'm very used to seeing ruins of my area's industrial history, so I think it would be interesting to take what I've learned and apply it to the areas I grew up around.
I'd also love to take this idea to Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, New York of course... Really, any major city. They each have their own unique history and patterns. Each city would produce an entirely different body of work.

After seeing how Heather has brought vibrancy and luminosity to Philadelphia, it is clear that she can bring any kind of character and attraction to any abandoned areas and any city. It will be exciting to see her show, which will be from April 30th to May 7th. There will be much to see from Heather when the Divine Lorraine is renovated. It will also be exciting to see what she does in the future when she ventures to the many cities on her list!

Written by Tara Tayan






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