N U E V A LDZ
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pboloÂŁrapbic journal Vol. 3 No. 3
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NUEVA L U Z Vol. 3 No. 3,
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p to to ^ r a journal Editor Charles Biasiny-Rivera Associate Editor Betty Wilde Designer/Art Director Frank Gimpaya Translator Amaldo Sepulveda East Coast Distributors Total Circulation Services Ubiquity
Typography Ortiz Typographies Printing Expedi Press
Nueva Luz (ISSN 0887-3833) is a photographic jour nal published by En Foco, Inc., a not-for-profit national visual arts organization, 32 East Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, New York 10468, (212) 384-7718. Single issue price is $4.00, yearly individual subscription is $23.00 in the U.S. In all other countries, yearly subscription is $33.00, institutional subscription is $40.00. Portfolios of at least 13 unmounted prints or copy slides may be submittedfor viewing. Ifmailed, the prints may be no larger than 11”* 14”. A self addressed stamped envelope and appropriate packaging must ac company all mailedportfolios to insure proper return. We do not assume responsibility for unsolicitedphotographs or manuscripts sent by mail. Photographers wishing to deliverportfolios in person must call our office to make ar rangements. For advertising rates and distribution contact En Foco, Inc.
Copyright © 1991 by En Foco, Inc. All Rights Reserved Nueva Luz is made possible withfunding by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Bronx Bor ough President, Fernando Ferrer and the Bronx Delega tion of the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and Art Mat ters, Inc. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reproduced or published in whole or in part without the written permis sion of the publisher, En Foco, Inc.
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Editorial Pa £ e
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omething happens when you're totally absorbed making it hard to see what's aroundyou. The focus is so intense that you may lose the peripheral vision that's so important in establishing yourparameters. Re cently, I’ve been fortunate to have been invited to dif ferent parts of the country; as a juror for Film in the Cities McKnight Photography Fellowship in Minnea polis, Minnesota and The Photographers Fund of The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, New York; and as a Critic in Residence for the Mary land Art Place in Baltimore, Maryland. Meeting with artists and viewing work done outside the New York City area has been very rewarding. Aside from meeting a fine group of hard working artists and arts profes sionals, I was quite impressed with their interest in cul tural perceptions. Though gender, disease and environvental issues prevail, there still remains an urgent desire to attach these issues to societal, personal refer ences. To create a unique visual vocabulary requires an understanding of the past and a liberated immersion into the present. Andy Warhol did exactly that in his time, appropriating from within his culture to make an important statement about his world. All cultures con tain the wisdom of their history. Ifyou haven’t found yours then you've been listening to the wrong voices. Mining ones cultural vein encourages an involvement with personal truth, forcing you to see past the visual pablum and the safe stuff. It asks you to make your mark and stand by it and, finally, it demands that you add to your lineage with your whole being which is, of course, your art.
uando uno esta inmerso profundamente en algo los alrededores se vuelven mucho menos claros. De tan intensa que es la concentration uno puede perder la vision periferion, de ahi los parametros basicos. He tenido la fortuna recientemente de haber sido invitado a diferentes partes del pais: de jurado al “Film in the Cities McKnight Photography Fellowship " de Minneapolis, Minnesota, y “The Photographers Fund of The Centerfor Photography at Woodstock" en Woodstock, Nueva York; tambien fui Critico Resi dente en el Maryland Art Place de Baltimore. Ha sido muy provechoso reunirme con artistas y ver obras producidas fuera del circulo de Nueva York. Ademas de conocer varios artistas y profesionales del arte de calidad y muy dedicados, me llamo mucho la atencion su interes porlaproblematica cultural. Si bien los asuntos de indole sexual, de mala saludy del ambiente predominan, permanece una urgencia por implicar en dichos asuntos referencias sociales y personales. Crear un vocabulario visualpropio requiere una comprension del pasado y una inmersion liberada en lo presente. Esto justamente fue lo que hizo Andy Warhol: apropiar lo que su cultura le brindaba para expresarse significativamente en tomo a su mundo. Toda cultura entrana la sabiduria de su propia historia; quienes no la encuentran escuchan las voces equivocadas. Fxplorar la vota cultural heredada conlleva una busqueda de verdades intimas, yendo mas alia de la baratija visualy la comomo idad. Y conlleva que uno establezca su imagen y se d' a respetar con. ella, que aporte a la herencia nada menos que el ser propio, que es nuestro arte, por supuesto.
Charles Biasiny-Rivera Editor
Charles Biasiny-Rivera Editor
Table of Coplegl? Editorial.................................. ConradBarclay....................... Hilton L. Braithwaite........... Accra Shepp........................... Commentary by DawoudBey Comentario.............................
----- page I .pages 2-11 pages 12-21 pages 22-31 ----- page 32
---- page 33
Cover photograph: Accra Shepp, Untitled, 1989, Silver Gelatin Print, N.Y., N.Y., 29" x 27".
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Coprad Barclay
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£ 3 Conrad Barclay received a B. A. from City Univer sity of N.Y. in Visual Communication. Selected one person exhibitions include: The Cinque Gal lery,, N.J.; Jamaica Art Center; N. Y.; Shadowed Image Studio Gallery, N. Y.; Parsons/New School Photography Gallery, N. Y.; The Fourth Street Photo Gallery, N. Y. Selected group exhibitions include: Rutgers University, N.J.; UBC Museum ofAnthropology, Vancouver, Canada; Common wealth Institute, London, England; The Bronx Museum ofthe Arts, N. Y. Conrad is a recipient of a N. Y. Foundation for The Arts Fellowship, a N. Y.S. Councilfor The Arts Visual Artist Award and a Commonwealth Photographers Awardfor Caribbean andAmerica’s Region. Conradis afree lance photographer specializing in corporate and editorialjournalism.
“This project is essentially the visual study of a universal human experience. Throughout the years and across the globe, the paths to a ‘higher state of consciousness have been many and var ied. In the little ‘Holiness Church' that lattended with my grandmother as a child, this momentary trancelike state of being, which made my grand mother and her church-mates behave so very strangely during worship, was referred to as being ‘touched by the Holy SpiritMany years later, from the violent bullet-riddled, impoverished ghettoes of West Kingston came a new pulsating musical rhythm dubbed Reggae. This music became the rallying cry for people the world over, who were engaged in or empathized with the struggles for equal rights and justice. It was through Reggae that I achieved the celestial ex perience my grandmother had spoken of. My con cerns are primarily human. My intent is that the vision evidenced in the images will transcend ex planation. ”
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Corjrad Barclay
Untitled\ n. d., Silver Gelatin Print, 9 ' x 6".
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Coprad Barclay
Untitled\ n. d., Silver Gelatin Print, 6 " x 9".
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Coprad Barclay
Untitled, n. d., Silver Gelatin Print, 6� x 9".
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Coprad Barclay
Untitled’ n.d., Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9".
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Coprad Barclay
Untitled, n. d., Silver Gelatin Print, 9" x 6".
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Coprad Barclay
Untitled, n. d., Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9".
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Coprad Barclay
Untitled, n.d., Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9".
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Corjrad Barclay
Untitled, n. d., Silver Gelatin Print, 6 " x 9 "•
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Coprad Barclay
Untitled, n.d., Silver Gelatin Print, 9" x 6
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Hiltor) L. Brailfywaile
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fi 3 Hilton Braithwaite received a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Selected solo exhibitions include: The Robert B. Menschel Photo Gallery, Syracuse, N. Y.; Fashion Moda, N. Y.; Camera Work Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Diego Rivera Gallery, CA. Selected collections include: The Museum ofModem Art, N. Y.; Califomia Histori cal Society, San Francisco; Tne Schomburg Col lection; The Metropolitan Museum ofArt, N. Y.; George Eastman House, Rochester, N. Y.; The Studio Museum, N. Y. Hilton has worked as a cre ative chef in various N. Y. C. restaurants. He was recently executive chef at Bradley's Jazz Club, N.Y.C.
“In our day to day lives our experience of and interaction with the world does not come to us directly. Everything around us, or rather, what we understand as everything is only the residue left over after our senses have filtered the chaotic flashes oflight and raw vibrations of the air. Our perceptions serve to structure and bring meaning to the universe, the true structure ofwhich is out side our ability to understand. A representation of the world then becomes third hand informa tion. It is one more step removedfrom the world at large. This third hand information is what we share with others. It forms the body ofartifacts of our daily lives, the conversations, the writings, the images. In turn, it is what we call, ‘ What we know’ Even the simplest composite extends our vision beyond its natural limitations. I hope my pictures, in reaching beyond the boundaries of our abilities to perceive, cross over from being a mere representation to become a new part of the world around us, and become a part of the body of shared knowledge. ”
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Hillor) L. Brailfywaile
San Francisco 1987, Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 18".
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Hillop L. Brait^waite
Island ofKaui 1988, Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 18�.
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Hiltop L. Braitl)waite
Island of Kaui 1988, Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 18".
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Hillop L. Brailljwaile
San Francisco 1987, Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 18".
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Hiltor) L. Brailbwaile
Island ofKaui 1988, Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 18".
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Hillop L. Braitl)waite
Central Park North 1989, Silver Gelatin Print, 12 * x 18".
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Hillop L. Braitl)waite
Hoyt Street, Brooklyn 1989, Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 18".
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Hillop L. Brailljwaile
San Francisco 1987, Silver Gelatin Print, 12 " x 18".
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Hiltop L. Braitl)waite
California 1988, Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 18".
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Accra Sfyepp
Accra Shepp graduated Cum Laude from Prince ton with a degree in Art History. He received a Masters in Art History from N. Y. U. in 1986. He has exhibited at: Art in General’ TV. Y.; The Ledel Gallery, TV. Y.; The Clocktower, TV. Y.; Lightwork, Syracuse, TV. Y.; The Midtown “Y” Gallery, TV. Y. ; TV. Y. U. ’s Loeb Student Center. His work has been published in Shots, Osiris, and Contact Sheet magazines. He is currently an instructor at the In ternational Center ofPhotography, TV. Y.
‘Photography has been a process I’ve been in volved with for almost twenty years now as a fine art. I have always photographed in the cities where I've lived and the adjacent countryside, where I go to rest, relax, and be with my inner self. I consider the plants and landscapes to be a type ofportraiture. ”
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Accra Sfyepp
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ISS
Hill
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Untitled, 1989, Jersey City, N.J., Silver Gelatin Print
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Accra Sl^epp
Oxygen Lance I, 1990, Cleveland, Ohio, Silver Gelatin Print, 20" x 48"
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Accra Sljepp
Blast Furnace 5 and 6, 1989, Cleveland' Ohio, Silver Gelatin Print, 19" x 45"
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Accra Sfyepp
Untitled, 1990, Cleveland, Ohio, Silver Gelatin Print, 19" x 43"
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Accra Sbepp
Oxygen Lance II, 1990, Cleveland, Ohio, Silver Gelatin Print, 20 " x 48"
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Accra S^epp
Untitled, 1987, Brooklyn, N.Y., Silver Gelatin Print, 13" x 44�
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Accra Sfyepp
Untitled, 1990, Cleveland, Ohio, Silver Gelatin Print, 19" x 30"
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Accra Sfyepp
Untitled, 1989, N.Y., N.Y., Silver Gelatin Print, 21" x 34"
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Accra Sfyepp
Untitled, 1988, Harrison, N.J., Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 20".
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urrent critical theory aside, not allphotographs made in these times are created as a means of critiquing the media, or to question presumptions aboutphotography's inherent credibility. As quiet as it's kept, there are stillphotographers who make images that are based entirely on the experiential veracity of photographic meaning. These photographers, functioning as they do outside of the current socio-political/ theoretical nexus, have been largely excludedfrom much of current critical debate. Rather than challenging the medium's ability to be a reposi tory of credible representation, these artists begin with the assumption that photographic representation is, in fact, inherent ly credible yet not intractable. Thus they make pictures that—in varying degrees, and using different devices — add to our knowl edge ofwhat a photograph can look like. They do, however, using means that are strictly photographic. In doing so, they make clear the range of photographic practice still possible using the medium's uniquely specific vocabulary. Conrad Barclay, Hilton Braithwaite, and Accra Shepp make photographs that record the world in front ofthe camera. Yet their interests lie in photography's transformative capacity. Convention dictates that the camera is a surrogate for the human eye, render ing a hyper-real mechanically aided version ofwhat the naked eye sees. Through certain aesthetic and technical considerations, these three photographers have created something quite differentfrom what the experience ofthe casual viewer orparticipant at that same scene would have been. This is, after all, the meaning ofvision: to transform a thing into its unseen and highly subjective essence. Conrad Barclay's photographs start with a very simple techni cal device. Because a camera is made to record still images, one usually strives to combine the mechanical variables ofthe camera's controls in such a way as to render the subjects as statically as possi ble. Barclay, on the other hand, is using a longer than usual expo sure time to record his subjects. This increased exposure time, in turn, compresses several seconds into a single fixed image. It is a rather conventional device, but Barclay has employed it to beauti fully unconventional means. By bringing his sustained vision to bear over a series ofimages using this device, he has opened up a visual passageway into an unseen world. At its best, music lifts the listener out ofthe confines of every day experience into a state whereby rhythm and melody become emotional catalysts. As Barclay's photographs make clear, however, it is not only the listener who is transformed by this "flash of the spirit, " it transforms the performer as well. Ifyou have any doubt, look at these images. Faces here become masks; the per formers transformed into shamans and otherworldly beings. A white jacket becomes a cloud of ethereal smoke that engulfs yet another rapturous figure. Some sacred divination seems to be occuring here, andBarclay is the anointedsupplicant armed not with ritual and magical implements, but with a camera, s'eeking in the music ofreggae the redemption of religious experience. How else to explain an image in which an enthralled figure seems to be possessed ofa spirit that seems to literally break free of its physical confines. An urbanitefor all ofhis life, Hilton Braithwaite creates strik ing images that have, as their central concern, not the people who
populate these environments, the natural plant forms and vegetation ofthese places. Rather than employing the largeformat camera to meticulously render these forms, as one might expect, he has proceeded to bring the improvisational sensibility of the hand-held55mm camera to bear on these subjects. Seeking not to lavish his attention on the singular plant form, Braithwaite has sought to make freewheeling, quickly seen associations that make use ofarchitectural elements, dramatic plays oflight, and atten tion to the abstracting qualities ofform. Braithwaite's photographs are possessed of a quiet and assured subtlety that is fueled by his respectfor his subject matter. Thus, his images speak softly and one has to give them sustained attention in order to descipher their underlying meaning and structure. In one image exotic plant forms loom up in the fore ground and are contrasted with the verticals, horizontals, and diagonals of the man-made environment in which they exist. Anotherphotographjuxtaposes rows ofterraced windows with the twisting languid tree trunks before them. Look closely, and an image of trees in theforest reveals the subtle presence ofsweeping branches gracefully bisecting the photograph's foreground. With each viewing of these images the patient viewer will be rewarded with the knowledge that Braithwaite is quietly encouraging us to observe and respect the natural life around us. Accra Shepp extends the act ofphotographic seeing through the joining of individual images to create composites. The chal lenge here is to read the image as one whole though it may well be composed of as many as six different parts. The most apparent reference for Shepp's images would seem to be the formal innova tion ofcubism, wherein a two-dimensionalpictorial space is made to encompass multi-angled perspectives of a subject. While cubism as a formal device in painting has clearly run its aesthetic course, it is here given new life through its introduction into the photographic arena. Shepp's photographs ofbridges, industrial sites, and various structures deposit the viewer into a landscape of mystery. The paradox is that while these structures are clearly man-made, the uninformed viewer can only wonder at the uses to which these structures are put. Thus while I haven't a clue as to what an oxygen lance is, Shepp has presented it as a place ofquiet contemplation, an industrial cathedral with the majestic sweep ofa grand gothic church. A photograph from Brooklyn, New York offers visualpoints of dramatic entrance and departure. Taken partly through a chainlinkfence, it is instructive also for what it tells us about how famil iar objects are transformed through photographic means. And what of the industrial landscape full of smoke-belching stacks? Surely some human activity compels this mechanical behemoth to function. But the absence of any visible humanity only further obscures their ultimate function. Shepp's photographs make it clear that while we cannot always resolve what we see with a degree offinality, we can assume that there is more than one side to a question. Finally, all three of these photographers make it clear that if we don't stick our heads in the theoretical sand, the world in front of the camera can be an interesting andfascinating place, indeed. Dawoud Bey
Dawoud Bey is a photographer and writer. His photographs have been exhibited in numerous institutions both in the United States and abroad. He is a twice recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Photography Fellowship in 1987 and 1990.
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que pueblan estos espacios sino la flora particular que les caracteriza. Pero en lugar de emplear la camara grande de formato para captar meticulosamente las formas vegetales, que seria lo esperado, ha aprovechado la sensibilidad improvisatoria de la camara de mano de 35mm. A fin de no prodigar sus energias frente a una forma vegetal singular, Braithwaite traza asociaciones aleatorias, vistas a vuelo de pdjaro, que se valen de elementos arquitectonicos, juegos dramaticos de luz, y un interes por las cualidades abstractivas de las formas. Las fotos de Braithwaite acusan una sutileza calladay seguara que se nutre del respeto que le inspira su materia. Por lo tan to, sus imagenes hablan en voz baja, y uno tiene que contemplarlas con cuidado para descifrar su sentidoy estructura de raiz. En una imagen se asoman formas de plantas exoticas en el primer piano y crean un contraste con las lineas verticales, horizontals y diagonales delambito humano en el que viven. Otrafotografia yux tapone hileras de ventanas de terrazasy los troncos torcidos, languidos de arboles que estan delante de ellas. Fijense detenidamente y veran que la imagen de arboles en el bosque descubre sutilmente unas ramas que bisectan delicadamente el primer piano de la foto. Cada recorrido de estas imagenes le brindaraal espectadorpaciente la recompensa de saber que Braithwaite nos anima a observary venerar la vida natural que nos rodea. Accra Shepp ensancha el acto de la mirada fotografica al unir imagenes individuales y crear compuestos. El reto que enfrentamos es saber leer la imagen como un todo aunque este compuesta, por ejemplo, de seis piezas diferentes. El referente mas notable en las imagenes de Shepp seria el poder innovador del cubismo, segun el cual un espacio pictorico bidimensional llega a abarcar perspectivas multiangulares sobre determinada materia. A pesar de que el cubismo ha perdido su potencia estetica como recurso formal de la pintura, cobra nueva vida al ser introducido en el terreno fotografico. Las fotos de Shepp de puentes, campos industrials y diversas estructuras colocan al espectador en un paisaje enigmatico. La paradoja es asi: ai bien estas estructuras son creacion humana, la mirada sin educar se tiene que preguntar para que sirven. De modo que a pesar de que no se ni me imagino que pueda ser una lanza de oxtgeno, Shepp muestra con ella un lugar de callada contemplacion, una catedral industrial tan majestuosa como una antigua iglesia gotica. Una fotografia de Brooklyn, Nueva York brinda puntos visuales de entrada y salida dramaticas. La foto, que fue sacada a traves de una verja encadenada, no es menos valiosa por su modo de transformer objetos familiares, propio de la fotografia. £ Y el paisaje industrial lleno de pilas humeantes? Alguna actividad humana seguramente obliga algigante mecanico afuncionar. Pero la ausencia de toda humanidad visible solo oscurece aun mas su funcion ultima. Las imagenes de Shepp nos indican que si bien no podemos desentranar siempre lo que vemos terminantemente, si podemos suponer que cada interrogante poseo varios angulos. Einalmente, cada uno de estos tres fotografos nos demuestra que si no escondemos la cabeza en la cueva teorica, el mundo frente a la camara puede ser un ambito sumamente interesante y fascinante. Dawoud Bey
alvando la teoria cntica actual’ no todas las fotografias de nuestros tiempos asumen una cntica de los medios de comunicacion o enjuician los supuestos acerca de su propia creibilidad. Aunque no loparezca, hay fotografos hoy en dia que arman imagenes basadas por completo en la veracidad experiencial del significado fotografico. A estos fotografos, que obran fuera del nexo socio politico Iteorico actual, se les ha excluido por la mayor parte del debate critico. En lugar de enfrentar la capacidad del medio artistico para ser receptaculo de representacion cretble, estos artistas parten de la premisa de que la representacion fotografica es, de hecho, inherentemente creible sin ser inmanejable. De ahi conciben imagenes que enriquecen nuestro conocimiento de lo que una foto puede llegar a ser en grados diversos y utilizando recursos diferentes. Esto lo logran, eso si, valien dose de tacticas estrictamente fotogrdficas. Como consecuencia, iluminan la gama de la praxis fotograficafactible utilizando su vocabulario peculiar y especifico. ConradBarclay, Hilton Braithwaite y Accra Shepp creanfoto grafias que graban el mundo frente al lente. Sin embargo, les preocupa la capacidad transformadora del medio. Segun la tradicion, la camara funge del ojo humano, y nos brinda una version hiperreal y un tanto mecanizada de lo que nuestros ojos ven. Gracias a ciertas consideraciones esteticasy tecnicas, estos tresfotografos han creado algo que es muy diferente de la experiencia del espectador comun ante el mismofenomeno. Alfinal de cuentas, en esto radica el significado de la vision: llegar a transformar un objeto en su esencia invisible y hondamente subjetiva. Las fotografias de Conrad Barclay parten de un recurso tecnico muy sencillo. Puesto que la camara esta hecha para grabar imagenes fijas, uno suele tratar de combinar las variables mecanicas de los mandos de la camara para que la imagen quede lo mas estatica que se pueda. Barclay, porotro lado, emplea un tiempo de exposicion mayor de lo acostumbrado para grabar sus imagenes. Dicho tiempo comprime varios segundos, a su vez, en una sola imagen fija. Recurso bastante convencional, es cierto, pero Barclay se vale de el sin convencionalismos, y genialmente. Al infundirle una vision a una serie de imagenes de esta manera, ha logrado fundar en campo visual en un mundo oculto. La musica, cuando esta en su punto, eleva al escuchante sobre su limitada experiencia diaria y lo coloca en un ambito en el cual ritmoy melodia son catalizadores de emocion. Las fotos de Barclay demuestran, sin embargo, que no solo transforma al escuchante este “relumbron del espiritu, ”sino que el ejecutante se transforma a su vez. Si tiene alguna duda al respecto, fijeue en estas imagenes. Los rostros vueltos en mascaras; los musicos son shamans y seres del otro mundo. Una chaqueta blanca se convierte en nube de humo etereo que arropa otra figura embelesada. Cierto presagio divino parece nacer, y Barclay es el suplicante ungido de una camara, a diferencia de instrumentos ritualistasy magicos, procurando en el reggae la redentora vivencia religiosa. {De que otra manera podriamos entender una imagen de una figura en extasis, aparentemente poseida por un espiritu que se desprende de sus confines fisicos? Hilton Braithwaite, ciudadano de urbe de toda la vida, crea imagenes llamativas cuy a preocupacion central no son las personas
Dawoud Bey es un fotografoy escritor. Susfotografias han sido exhibidas en numerosas instituciones en los Estados Unidos y en el exterior. Ademas Bey ha sido recipiente del New York Foundation for the Arts Photography Fellowship en dos ocasiones, en el 1987 y el 1990.
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