Old vs. New - Color vs. B&W - Traditional vs. Digital
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Timothy Briner, 2000 - Taken while attending Hallmark (4x5)
I've been racking my head about how to transition into a new style of shooting. For 2 years after Hallmark I shot almost exclusively B&W landscapes and portraits. Now, all I shoot is color neg - again, landscapes and portraits, but this time the portraits (and landscapes) are formed within a larger series, usually with some sort of ambiguous story involved. I'm now shooting a series of color and B&w landscapes in Chelsea (NY). I'm still using the 4x5 but going at it in a much different way. There is a theme again but this time its more political - I think its too early for me to really talk about it (only been shooting for two days), but as of now its titled Fuck You Chelsea.
For the last 2 years I have taken a Casio digital camera with me everywhere I go. I have perfected the quick use of this camera: if something happens it takes me about 20 sec to take the shot. I am trying to morph this new style of shooting in with my very patient and stylized way of shooting with the 4x5. See a few examples of this style of shooting, something I am very into and hope will transition into my thinking when using the 4x5. Images below.
Today I'm going through all of the work I have shot since Hallmark. Mostly paying attention to the early B&W stuff to see when and how my focus changed. I'm a fan of my current shooting style but I just don't seem to be owning it. The early stuff I feel was "my own". The closest thing I think I have like that, at least since I got away from traditional portraits, is Lycanthrope (self-portrait series) . Its raw but still very much stylized; I think its a great balance of the old and new. (images below). At that time I was very much into cinema and started using the diptych (definition) as a way to show two sides of the same moment in time. I was trying to emulate the quick edits from short to long shots, seen in film. (Click them to see larger)
Lycanthrope No.1, 2004 - Timothy Briner
Lycanthrope No.2, 2004
Lycanthrope No.3, 2004
Lycanthrope No.4, 2004
One thing I have always said in my artist statement is that I feel its important that an artist is always evolving - I think this is especially important in today's age of "is photography art?" and "Digital vs. Traditional". Mr. Duane Michals, my very first great inspiration (thanks to George Rosa) has put out a controversial new book entitled "Foto Follies: How Photography Lost Its Virginity on the Way to the Bank." One of the things he says in the book is, "Photographers whose next three books will look like their last three-books should quit." A favorite blog of mine has a good article on Duane and the book.
Keep asking the question and keep experimenting, otherwise you may end up on the other end of a Duane Michals' experiment.
Labels: Timothy Briner
posted by Timothy Briner @ 4:07 PM,
4 Comments:
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At March 27, 2007 4:35 PM,
Gabo Paparazzo said...
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crazy stuff! nice, i like. nice nude as well..
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At March 27, 2007 5:00 PM,
Wayne Wallace said...
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Ditto Bandido!
Tim, you got some crzay stuff man!
I like it, very inspirational! -
At March 27, 2007 6:01 PM,
Timothy Briner said...
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Thanks guys.
here is a link to see a few behind the scenes shots from Lycanthrope.
I shot it over the course of 3 nights. Two in March of 2004 and one in May of 2004. I shot the "hunter" and one or two "wolf" shots the first two nights. It was one of the weirdest nights of my life. I was there by myself, did the makeup myself and then shot it alone. The second trip I had my girlfriend to help out with the lighting. She snapped the behind the scenes shots. -
At March 28, 2007 11:32 AM,
Susan said...
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I dont even know what to say. Your a wolfman, I like it.
