Posted on July 31st, 2010 in Europe | Leave A Comment
I’ll be in two exhibitions in August/September and then one in October/November. The first is at ArtReactor in/near Washington D.C. the advert reads:
“I am pleased to announce the opening of the Whole Plate Project exhibition. The Whole Plate Project is an exhibit centered around photographers working in the whole plate format, the original photographic format (6.5 by 8.5 inches), and its historical and contemporary resonances. The show features work by Quinn Jacobson, Diane Maher, Chris Rini, Denise Ross, David White, Heather Wetzel, Barry Schmetter and Scott Davis. Works featured include cyanotypes, wet plate, silver gelatin and platinum/palladium prints. The opening reception will be Friday, August 6, from 7-9 PM. The exhibit space will be open weekends, otherwise by appointment.
Art Reactor is a new gallery/workshop/studio space in the Hyattsville arts corridor, located at 5614 Baltimore Avenue, Hyattsville, Maryland. For more information about the space, go to http://artreactor.org”
I’ve sent this triptych over for the show:
The second show is at LightBox Photographic Gallery. It’s a show of “alternative” work and processes. I have one piece in it:
“Judasbaum”
And one more exhibition at the same gallery, Lightbox Photographic, called, “The 2nd Annual Spooky Show” (October/November). They asked for these pieces:
“Jewish DNA”
“The Monster’s Suicide”
“German Man With An Axe”
With that, it will close out my 2010 exhibition list. 2011 will be a new year, new work and a new exhibitions!
Posted on June 21st, 2010 in Europe | Leave A Comment
It seems I’ve closed one chapter of my life and am ready for the next one.
As I look back over the last year (2009/2010), I see what I’ve done and I’m amazed and incredibly satisfied. Having these kinds of opportunities (Paris exhibition, Archer Project, etc.) is a rare and wonderful thing.
Henry David Thoreau said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". For the most part, I would agree with that. They’re desperate because they are clueless about their purpose. The trick is to find your passion and pursue it with everything you have. Take risks, push your boundaries, and never quit. Passion is what we need more of - and I don’t mean passion as in fundamental religions or passions that hurt people. I’m talking about a personal passion - it’s always a positive thing, an asset to society, not a liability. Finding out why you are here and what you’re supposed to be doing with your life is what we need to be asking ourselves. For the past 10 or 15 years, maybe more, I’ve been preoccupied with this idea and have done my best to be honest in its pursuit.
How do you define success? Happiness? Satisfaction? Is it relative? I’m not sure. Regardless of the definition, at this moment in my life I would have to mark 9/10 in all of the categories. I feel accomplished, appreciated and am very happy. Over the last few years in Europe, I’ve met some of the most kind and wonderful people in the world. Every color, nationality, race and religion - all beautiful, interesting people that helped me get to this point. I can’t thank them enough for the difference they’ve made in my life.
I’ve talked a lot about stepping out of the spotlight. I’m beginning that process now. Some of it will be a little bit sad for me. I’ll miss doing some of the things that I’ve been doing for a long time. However, it’s time to move on and experience the next chapter/adventure of my life. I know it’s time.
My exhibition in Paris (Centre Iris) just ended. It was successful beyond words. I’m eternally grateful and thankful for Pierre, Olivier, Benoît, William, Patrick, Bruno, and all of the students in my workshops; almost thirty of you! I would also like to thank all of the sitters that came for portraits. I ended up making almost 175 portraits of Parisians over the last few months. Talk about a body of work! I heard some of the kindest comments and had the honor of making portraits of some very important people in the world of photography. Merci beacoup! It was my honor and pleasure. And finally, Jeanne and Summer, I love you! What an adventure! I could have never, ever done this without you! Hugs, kisses, and someday we’ll be having some more Chinese ravioli and Japanese Sushi in Paris!
There are some wonderful things ahead for me (art/photographically). I’m looking forward to sharing them when the time is right. Summer will be starting her studies in August and we (Jeanne and I) may have some big changes ahead, too. We’ll see. For right now, let’s say the operative word is: CHANGE. Change is good. Change presents opportunity. Don’t fear change.
One more thing; I wanted to share some images I’m sending to Washington D.C. for an exhibition. This is Benoît, a Parisian artist and filmmaker. I call this, "Three Portraits in Paris: Chopin’s Left Hand". You get it, I don’t need to explain it. However, the Parisian model with black eyes may be a different story…
"Three Portraits in Paris: Chopin’s Left Hand", Triptych - Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotypes
"Parisian Model With Black Eyes", - Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotype
This is Gwen, she was the sweetest lady you could meet. I made two plates of her, I kept this one.
If you would like to see a small (very small – 12 images) sample of the portraits I made in Paris, you can go here. Please forgive the low quality of the images, they were “snapped” with my small digital point and shoot. There are about 150 I never got snaps of!
Posted on May 22nd, 2010 in Art & Theory, Collodion Images, Collodion Workshops, Europe | Leave A Comment
France 3 TV’s piece about Quinn’s exhibition in Paris at Centre Iris Gallery.
France 3 TV just aired this piece this week. The spot is about my work and the Wet Plate Collodion process. They also show a lot of images from my exhibition in Paris at the Centre Iris Gallery. The video is a copy from a monitor, but hopefully I’ll get a DVD next month and I’ll put it on my site (high res). It’s a really good piece - very “top shelf”. I’m very pleased. Enjoy!
Posted on May 4th, 2010 in Europe | Leave A Comment
We did it. I still can’t believe that I’m sitting here in London (Heathrow airport) with glass plates in my bag of Archer’s new plaque surrounded by the people that made all of this all happen. 
And I have an Aluminum plate of the dead Fox – also known as, “The Death of Fox Talbot.”
Carl Radford made a very nice introduction and John Brewer did an excellent job of presenting Archer with historically correct information. Archer was never without a headstone, but he wasn’t ever recognized for what he did. That’s where we came in.
The unveiling was very special. The very moment Carl and I lifted the black cloth from the plaque on Archer’s grave, the clouds parted and the sun shined bright and beautiful on all of us. A very good sign. A confirmation, if you will, that it was right to do this (see Kim Conway’s photo below). It was moving. I really hope Alastair got that bit on video, it was the pinnacle for me (well, there were many, but this was special).
There were almost 50 people at Archer’s grave. More and more came throughout the day to see the process he invented and to see the wonderful Collodion exhibition. All of it was very well received. Thanks to Tim Soar and Adam Brown for presenting the work properly – a wonderful job, indeed. Adam’s going to be hanging out in the gallery on a Sunday here and there. Stop by, see the work.
The Friends of Kensal Green, Barry Smith, in particular, was a kind and gracious host. He gave us some private tours and shared his passion with us: the history of some very interesting and important people in Kensal Green. We also shared a couple of pints with him. A wonderful experience: it’s all about connecting.
It was a great honor for me to be a part of all of this, a pinnacle in both my personal life and my artistic career. The people I’ve met and the places I’ve been because of this process are the reasons I wanted to do this. Archer made this happen for me. I’m not saying we’ve “paid him back”, but I hope, in some small way, we’ve made a difference for him/his memory and for everyone working in the Wet Plate Collodion process.
P.S.
”The Death of Fox Talbot” - This is an image (whole plate Alumitype) of a dead fox. It was about 150 meters from
Archer’s grave. The poor thing probably laid down on the tomb to either get warm or cool off and died (who knows of what). It smelled terrible, of course, but I couldn’t help but make an image of it. Being orange/red in color and lying on a gray slab, Collodion translated dark. I think you get the idea though. I thought the eye and teeth were stunning and spooky.
Also, we still have a selection of donated work for sale. If you are interested, please contact me or Carl (carl@carls-gallery.co.uk) and we’ll show you what we have. I haven’t had a chance to upload the photos yet, it may be easier just to email one of us.
Thank you, thank you, thank you – to everyone that donated, helped, attended, etc. It was a great pleasure working with all of you.
