Britten Walker

Erie Community College, Orchard Park

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Britten’s prints are striking for their precision, the vividness of the detail, and his attentiveness to tonality and contrast. The compositions are orderly yet organic, usually eschewing architectural rigidity in favor of a response to the subject and forms within the environment. In “Untitled (waterfall and rocks)” the materials of rock, water and flora all find harmony within the frame, the water dissolving into the atmosphere above, the tiers of shale and peat anchor the vapor of trees along the top.

“Rocky Waters” distills much of this into a bare poetic expression – the opening 4-minute chord in "Vorspiel", the prelude of Wagner’s Das Rheingold. The sluggish exposure renders the water as abstract strokes, perpetual motion, a force. Alone near the top third of the frame is the only static subject, a point of rock barely rising above the rush of water. With no reference to context or scale this is a wholly different kind of natural abstraction than that of, say, Edward Weston. Speaking most keenly to senses of sound and kinesis, the image is not formal, but elemental.

Britten also utilizes this awareness of harmony and discord to create visual puns and sleight-of-hand, as in "Untitled (G.E.)". The challenge presented to the student photographers was to photograph typography in a way that would emphasize its pictorial, sculptural and formal characteristics rather than simply repeating existing meaning and context. Here the icon of industry and artifice is blended with the anti-electric, the snares of branches and twigs whose forms are an imperfect symmetry to the vine-like character of the classic logo. Better yet, the luminous branches suddenly appear voltaic, small charges of electricity emitting from the weathered insignia.

I’ve seen a photo of Britten in front of the stark ridges and snow-capped granite peaks. It was taken in Central Afghanistan (though it reminded me of parts of the Eastern Cascades in Washington State I grew up seeing). He’s standing in full combat gear with his gun on its base and tripod and an array of heavy rounds on the ground. We talked for awhile about his experiences, about landscapes and about precision. As a civilian, his heightened awareness of space, environment, and conditions has become an essential part of his creativity.

Britten favors the Nikon FE for most of his work, and most often uses a Nikkor 50/1.4.

Images: 1. "Untitled 1", Gelatin-silver print, 2011; 2. "Untitled", Gelatin-silver print, 2011;  3. "Untitled", Gelatin-silver print, 2011; 4. "Rocky Waters", Gelatin-silver print, 2011;

projects / pictures' new format.

Since its inception, this blog has been presented as a "photostream" (a la flickr), a sequence of usually single-image posts wherein I choose an exemplary recent photograph from a student and post it with minimal peripheral information. This format was chosen in part to isolate the images from the parameters set for a particular assignment, opening up the images to new possibilities of interpretation by creating a gallery-like environment. The encounter is thus with the image alone, on its own terms (itself a dubious assertion).

These de-contextualized images are always compelling in their own right, demanding no explanation to justify their presence. On reflection, this format has its own set of implicit biases, first and foremost privileging the image-object of the person who authored it. It also seems to suggest that early student work is not consistent enough to merit a more thorough presentation, and that the assignments I create are subterfuge, an elaborate game designed to produce stand-alone images and art works (this is only partly true!). However, on reflection, students in art and photography begin carving out a niche, and an individual approach simultaneously while still learning even the basics of the process, and more advanced students invest a lot of artistry and critical thinking in producing a consistent and compelling body of work within a given assignment, and even over multiple projects.

The new format will address these issues and latent strengths. Posts to this site will now be focused on a more generous, in-depth look at a student's work, showcasing multiple images whether from a single series or from across multiple projects. For each artist, I will also include a short review discussing the form, style and content, and include more relevant information provided by the artist.

Additionally, I will periodically post the original assignment outlines, so that readers can refer back to the themes and parameters to which a student was responding. There will be vestiges of projects/pictures original format, but I'm certain this new approach will be more amenable to all, and present a clearer sense for the artistry and learning taking place around me on a weekly basis.

x
Joel

Danielle Young

"Secured" 2011

Gelatin-silver print

Nick Lavin 

"When the Sun Met the Moon" 2011

Gelatin-silver print

Brin LaFleur 

"Untitled", 2011

Gelatin-silver print