I think that what I have to say, as far as keeping film alive, is meaningful. I think its really important for people to have contact with that and access to it and to have at the forefront of our minds as we move forward into a fasterpaced world.
The popularity of film photography may long since have waned thanks to the speed and convenience of digital technology, but a local gallery's exhibition demonstrates the beauty that can only a darkroom can produce.
Studio Space Junk, a North Shore gallery specializing in film and darkroom photography, is presenting "From the Box" through the end of October. The exhibition is a collection of about two dozens images drawn from the portfolio of Mike Wann, a Jackson, Miss.-transplant who spent seven years as a film photographer and whose photos have appeared in local and national outlets.
If you go
› What: “From the Box: 30 Years of Press Photography.” › When: 1-5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, through Oct. 31.› Where: Studio Space Junk, 436 Frazier Ave. › Admission: Free › Phone: 531-6066› Website: www.studiospacejunk.com
Meet the artist
During the run of “From the Box,” Studio Space Junk owner Diana Edwards will host occasional meet-and-greets with featured photographer Mike Wann. To receive updates of these events, visit www.facebook.com/studiospacejunk, or join the studio’s email list at www.studiospacejunk.com/contact.html.
The Gallery Hop
The Association for Visual Arts annual Gallery Hop will take place from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12.A celebration of “small businesses and nonprofits that connect our community with local, regional and national artists,” the Hop is a free event during which 20 AVA member galleries will host artist demonstrations, special exhibitions and provide refreshments. Participating facilities will include free maps of Hop locations that double as a card for Gallery Hop bingo offering up “fantastic arts prizes.” For more information, visit www.avart.org/gallery-hop or call 265-4282.
"After I first opened, he was one of the ones who came in and we'd sit and talk a lot and became friends," says Diana Edwards, the gallery's owner. "One day, he was like, 'Let me bring in some photographs that I have from my press photography days.'
"He was almost apologetic about it, saying, 'These photographs - some of them are test prints, and I found them in a box that went through [Hurricane] Katrina, so they're maybe waterlogged. They won't be at their best.'"
When he opened the box, however, Edwards says she was astounded at the contents, which ran the gamut from photographs of famous personalities, including Southern novelists Eudora Welty and Margaret Walker, to images of the survivors of natural disasters.
"They're some of the most beautiful photographs I've ever seen," Edwards says. "He was telling these stories about them, and you just sit there captivated like 'Wow.'"
On Saturday, Sept. 12, "From the Box" will be included as part of the Association for Visual Arts' annual Gallery Hop tour of its member organiztions, which include Studio Space Junk.
The photos' presentation will be intentionally organic and austere, Edwards says, in an effort to reflect their value as historical documents.
"I'm not going to try and frame them and make them look all pretty," she says. "I'll present them like we're pulling photos out of a box and hanging them. We'll present history to people. Hopefully it'll be as interesting to other people as it has been to me."
Mann has located the original negatives for some of the exhibited photos, Edwards says, and he will reproduce 8-by-10 prints onsite using the gallery's darkroom at an estimated cost of $100 to $200 per print.
The exhibition's display contains many photos of the aftermath of disasters, and its presentation period overlaps the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which is estimated to have caused more than $100 billion in damage after making landfall in late August 2005. However, scheduling the exhibition during the anniversary was sheer coincidence, Edwards says, and its real value is in reflecting the gallery's mission by demonstrating the beauty of an artistic medium that many think of as outmoded.
"I think that what I have to say, as far as keeping film alive, is meaningful," she says. "I have a big interest in not just photography but all aspects of 20th century pop culture and technology and stuff like that.
"I think it's really important for people to have contact with that and access to it and to have at the forefront of our minds as we move forward into a faster-paced world."
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.
