OCT/ NOV 2003
The inaugural show at spring – featuring the work of Jason Hwang and Adam H.
When we met Jason Hwang and witnessed his enthusiasm over the mechanics of photography, we knew we had to somehow build a show that imparted his passion – the process. So, we chose to show not only the photograph, but the homemade camera along with a commentary for each.
Jason Hwang – Pinhole Cameras & Iris Prints.
Born and raised in the Lower East Side, Jason Hwang is a self taught photographer with a passion for collecting old cameras and modifying them to use currently available film. Jason began exploring photography and has become as interested about the process as he is about the results. His approach is more that of a ‘street style’ – while his peers were tagging, Jason and his friends would explore seemingly impossible or out-of-bounds venues to capture images of underground New York.
On display are a series of 40” x 30” Iris prints of his direct exposure polaroid images of common objects. Evocative of Man Ray, these works, in full saturated color, contrast the comparatively primitive means of actually obtaining an image, with the high tech printing process. This contrast of technologies is also apparent when showing the photographs taken with his handmade cameras alongside a wall size printout of a pinhole image, made possible by 291 DIGITAL. This part of the exhibition will be complemented by a display of a selection of Jason’s cameras as well as the small objects he used to make the IRIS prints.
Adam H. – The Living Portrait Project
Media: Automated Visual Network Of Capture And Display Devices Title: The Living Portrait Project – a gallery-formatted performance based on the Internet Portrait Project at ZOOZOOM.COM. It was developed during September 2003 and first exhibited at spring during the 7th annual d.u.m.b.o. arts festival. Within the gallery space, the project is set up as an automated network of capture and display devices where participants can photograph themselves directly using the on site digital camera and a self-activated shutter-release cable. It is a project that creates art though audience participation, and grows with each interaction. The self-portraits, once taken, are then automatically processed into a real-time video display, where participants can see themselves as the digital audience competing for attention with real audience. For each self-portrait taken during the installation, a new layer of personality and a new degree of inter-connectedness is added to the project’s portrait database. In the post-production phase, this database of portraits is mathematically averaged and transformed, through the composition of thousands of layers of photographic data, into one compressed portrait, representative of the entire audience. The installation of the Living Portrait Project, although aided by assistants for efficiency, is set up as a completely automated interactive network, that creates art from within. It is an interactive production that highlights technology, individuality, and audience participation through the process of digital photography.
