Cig Harvey

White Witch Moth

2012

Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise In the latest narratives, “Domestic Demise,” the woman becomes the victim of domestic disasters. Her activities, obsessions and objects are overwhel...

Reviewing the photographs of Julie Blackmon, critic Leah Ollman of the Los Angeles Times wrote: “Each frame is an absorbing, meticulously orchestrated slice of ethnographic theater … that abounds with tender humor but also shrewdly subtle satire.” Blackmon is a native of Springfield, MO, and her photographs are inspired by her experience of growing up the oldest of nine children—including five sisters—in what she calls “a generic American town in the middle of the U.S.” In college, Blackmon was introduced to the work of artists Sally Mann, Diane Arbus, and Helen Levitt, and she describes herself as “obsessed” with their images. “When my three children were small,” she recalls, “we moved into an old house with a darkroom in the basement. Like any mother, I wanted to take pictures of my kids. But I didn’t want to be just the ‘mother photographer.’ I wanted my work to be more: more penetrating, more artful, more striking, more thoughtful, more a reflection of the times. “Over the next few years, I progressed from making documentary black and white photographs of my life and the lives of my sisters to creating colorful, fictitious images that offered a more fantastical look at everyday life. My work became more conceptual, as I began to realize that I was not obligated to capture “reality” exactly, but that I could work more like a painter or a filmmaker, actively shaping the images I was creating. This realization—that fiction can often capture the truth more memorably than reality—was a major shift in how I saw the world around me, and it transformed my work.” “It’s thrilling to see the most common aspects of everyday life as potential stories or themes for a photograph. It changes how you see things: suddenly, a Starbucks employee on a smoke break, or an outmoded beauty shop catering to an elderly clientele, can spark a memorable image. As Nora Ephron...

The Dutch proverb “a Jan Steen household” originated in the 17th century and is used today to refer to a home in disarray, full of rowdy children and boisterous family gatherings. Th...

The Dutch proverb “a Jan Steen household” originated in the 17th century and is used today to refer to a home in disarray, full of rowdy children and boisterous family gatherings. Th...

Nicolas Ruel has been working, for the last several years, on an ambitious body of work, 8 seconds, where he attempts to revisit the image of the world’s greatest cities. From Elemen...

"“We visualize and dream a magnificent amphitheater under a glorious moonlight sky in an Italian garden, in a Persian court, in a Spanish patio, or in a Mystic Egyptian temple yard, ...

As one of the last opulent picture-palaces built before the Great Depression in 1931, the LA Theatre was erected in less than six months in a French Baroque style and is reminiscent ...

As one of the last opulent picture-palaces built before the Great Depression in 1931, the LA Theatre was erected in less than six months in a French Baroque style. The detailed silk ...