Scott B. Davis

continuing to look at West Coast photographers...

Scott B. Davis is a big league photographer. Besides his impressive imagery, the dedication to his craft is mind blowing. Using a 16x20 camera (process described below), Scott captures the environnmental beauty of Los Angeles by removing all the daytime distractions and finding visual simplicity in a city that is still very connected to the natural world.

"Broken down to its essence, a piece of art is made up of three elements: concept, composition and craftmanship. Craftsmanship is a vital part of my final product and one that is not easily conveyed on the web. Simply stated, I make in-camera 16" X 20" negatives. This is my chosen means of producing 16" X 20" platinum prints. This century-old process is less light sensitive than the more ubiquitous silver print, and therefore requires a contact print (i.e. a print the same size as the negative), rather than one that's been enlarged. For me, a contact print in platinum produces an object of richness and clarity that is simply not found in other photographic media.

During art school, a professor said to me "I'd like to see the images bigger." I wasn't about to give up contact printing, and was not interested in giving up platinum, so I considered the possibilities. Digitally-enlarged negatives were an idea, but they required more time in front of the computer and less in the field. After abandoning the darkroom for platinum I was not interested in returning to generate enlarged negatives. I soon began a three year process of building a 16" X 20" camera. I finished the camera in 2002, and have found the experience of using it enriching.

With digital technology the means for enlarging negatives is readily available, extremely accurate, and now, widely used. While I am cognizant of and fluid in the digital realm, my means of printmaking are as simple as ever. I use a 16" X 20" camera to produce large negatives. I avoid excess time in front of a computer and added time in the darkroom. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

The two series featured are Land of Sunshine and Nocturnes.

"My attraction to uncharted spaces led me to begin photographing at night. NOCTURNES and LAND OF SUNSHINE each investigate the experience of landscape after dark. I am most interested in conveying the idea of darkness and the feeling of looking into the night, more so than exploiting the camera's ability to illuminate an invisible world. Night transforms a landscape from something recognizable and known into something felt and seen. It is among the best times to practice the power of looking."

Images from Land of Sunshine










Images from Nocturnes

Bryan Formhals

continuing to look at West Coast photographers....

Bryan Formhals is a multi-tasking photographer who keeps his own work on the down-low, while promoting the work of others. Bryan founded La Pura Vida Gallery, which evolved from his networking and involvement on Flickr. He curates monthly on-line exhibitions and this month, La Pura Vida Gallery is having it's first brick and mortar show at L'Keg Gallery in Echo Park in Los Angeles that opens and closes tomorrow night at 8pm. It's a show that examines the increasing phenomenon of photographers forced to create their own print sales. Bryan also has a thought provoking and well written blog. Bryan is currently sampling the New York lifestyle after a chunk of time in Los Angeles.

The Electric Sunshine Velocity Trip is a terrifc series that captures the nuances of Los Angeles light and reflection. He brings his mastery of black and white photography to his color work, distilling the essence of a moment in glorious technicolor.

Images from The Electric Sunshine Velocity Trip










American Road Ghost, NYC to LA, Road Trip--Summer 2008
"Death can set off strange chain reactions. In the last few years I lost two grandparents both of whom lived into their 90s and had good lives. After my grandmother's death in the spring of 2008 I left my job, flew to New York and spent a couple days with friends, roaming around the city, drinking, photographing and enjoying the city. I rode the Greyhound from NYC all the way to Memphis, where I drank through the 4th of July holiday before renting a car and heading west, back to Los Angeles.
I set out to make black and white road pictures as a homage to Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Robert Adams and all the great classic black and white photography I'd been studying. On the way the cloud of death and my uncertain future hung over me. It wasn't an exciting trip. No big surprises, but all along I felt something was missing, as if I were chasing the ghost of the American road. Maybe the mythical road trip doesn't exist any longer, but there's still something out there if you allow yourself to get lost."

Images from American Road Ghost

Emily Shur

continuing to look at West Coast photographers.....

My friend Andy Adams recommended Emily Shur's wonderful work to me, and I'm sure glad he did. Emily is a New York City native who continued her education in the big apple at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, graduating with honors in Photography. She now makes her mark on the left coast, and shoots for a roster of prestigious publications, including Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Wired, and Esquire. Her work has been celebrated and awarded, and most recently shown in the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. She also has a terrific blog, My Four Eyed Fantasy.

Emily's personal vision comes from a someone who has the ability to capture unremarkable moments and make them postcard perfect. Emily's commercial work is filled with lots of familiar faces, but she still manages to show us something fresh. She's an observer of people and places, and there is an underlying joy in her work. She leaves you wanting more, and I have a feeling we are going to get it.

"My photographs are about life’s bigness and smallness, it’s grandeur and subtleties, and how those two overlap on a daily basis. These images depict beauty, humor, sadness, isolation, and a myriad of other hard to define feelings. Photography has been my tool; my way of creating a tangible document of the meaningful subconscious moments that make up a life. My ultimate goal is that the work transcends my individual experience and becomes larger than me."

Douglas Stockdale

Continuing to look at West Coast photographers...

Douglas Stockdale, is not only a busy photographer, businessman, and family man, but he's also becoming the Rupert Murdoch of Photography blogs-- authoring, editing, or producing The Photo Exhibit, The Photo Book, The Photo Exchange, and Singular Images. Growing up in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan, Douglas eventually found his way to California, and pursued an education in fine art, engineering, and business administration.

Because travel is a big part of Douglas' business life, he has deftly found a way to continue his creative life while living in a suitcase. His new series, Insomnia, Hotel Noir, describes the emotional life of a man on the road--blurred, alone, colorless. Mr. Stockdale also has several interesting bodies of work on China, roadside memorials, and landscapes.

"I am exploring the emotional ambiguity created when I am traveling, the disconnectiveness that occurs when staying at hotels. The stay may be for just overnight or perhaps an extended stay, but never the less, there is a temporary loss of connectiveness with others. The emotional impact can be further affected by my changes in the time zones, difference in food, culture and weather, the temporary facilities, and even the bed I need to sleep in to achieve my nightly energy and psychic renewal. For me, some aspect of Insomnia occurs.

The suggestion of this disconnection and separation is what I am striving for in this series."

Images from Insomnia, Hotel Noir











Images from Re: Development-China; Business as Usual