6 minute read
Jennifer McKinnon Richman
Where do you live, and what are three words to describe your city?
I have lived in Atlanta, Georgia for almost 11 years, but I was born and raised on the West Coast. Historic. Diverse. Developing.
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Can you tell us a little about yourself, and why you take photographs?
I have always enjoyed piecing things together, whether it was through decoupage (the art of adhering paper to items), quilting (the art of piecing together different fabrics), or collage (the art of layering papers). It wasn't until about five years ago, when my three children were all in elementary school, that I dusted off my Olympus and started to put it to good use. My original plan was to use my photographs as inspiration for mixed media pieces, but I fell in love with the instant gratification that digital images brought me.
Over the last few years, I have taken several art classes including drawing, composition, color theory, and collage. In addition, I took photography classes and learned how to use editing software. I approach my photography by shaping each composition as I do a collage. I enjoy capturing small details – focusing on layers created by color, texture, and shapes – and seeing how they interact with one another. But perhaps what I love most about photography is that it forces me to really stop, look around, and be present in my surroundings.
I love wandering the streets of a city and capturing the little details that are often overlooked but tell a story. In Cuba, I found the laundry hanging out to dry fascinating. In Amsterdam, it wasn't the old buildings that I fell in love with; instead, it was a wharf full of shipping containers covered in layers of paper and spray paint. But most of the time, I'm driving soccer carpool and shuttling my kids around Atlanta where I enjoy spotting a dumpster on the side of the road or a construction site for me to explore. For me, photography is a way to take the mundane, ordinary objects we find in a city and make them interesting.
Your photographs are very colorful and often so close they become abstract. What made you start to see this way?
I started to notice my love of the "up close" about 15 years ago while on my honeymoon in Belize. We had the opportunity to hold a fist-sized tarantula in the palm of our hands while walking through the jungle. The photo my husband took of me includes the tarantula but also my face, my arm and a lot of the background. It’s clearly me holding the tarantula. The photo I took of my husband was of just the tarantula in his hand. He still likes to joke (though it’s true) that the picture I took could have been of anyone holding the tarantula. I just tell him that I was much more interested in capturing the details of the tarantula than the person in the photo. Focusing in on the details helps me to be present – to appreciate my surroundings. My photos are like colorful layered cakes, rich in texture and color. That is where I see beauty.
Cuba seems right up your alley with its colors and textures. What were your impressions of Cuba?
It is an interesting place, a city of juxtapositions. As you said, the colors and textures are fantastic, giving Cuba an amazing outward beauty, but what I found is that this beauty is mostly a facade. Many buildings look great from the outside, but once you go inside, the colors fade. Quickly. When I wandered off the main streets away from the tours, I was immediately met with poverty and deterioration. Sometimes I would come across a dilapidated building that I thought would be vacant, but would then catch a glimpse of laundry drying outside and realize that a family lived there. At the same time, I felt incredibly safe walking around the streets of Havana on my own. The people were incredibly friendly. The streets were filled with music and dancing. Along with my laundry photos, my favorite memories of Havana were the hours I spent walking along the Malecon, people watching and taking photos along the way.
Who or what inspires you?
My mom. Though seeing the work of Edgar Degas and Gustav Klimt in person in my early 20s was the beginning of my art education and appreciation, and while this past summer I visited the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and fell in love with her work from both New York City and Santa Fe, unquestionably my mom has been my greatest inspiration. She pursued her art career while raising four children and now enjoys her life as a successful mixed media artist. My mom also happens to be my favorite travel companion, as she too loves to wander the streets of a new city while always on the lookout for ripped paper, deteriorating billboards, and color.
As for what inspires me, I would have to go with weathered urban areas and Mother Nature's creations. I love finding dumpsters, construction sites, graffiti, and torn paper. At the same time, I am continually in awe of nature's beauty, colors, and textures. Among my favorite natural creations are naked tree branches, flowers, silhouettes of landforms at sunset, and just about anything against a blue sky.
What is the biggest struggle that you have overcome—or are working to overcome—in your life?
My biggest struggle is how to find enough time to devote to my art. (And if anyone has suggestions, I am all ears.) With three young kids (ages 12, 10 and 8), I am constantly trying to figure out how to squeeze in as much work as I can while my children are in school and how to appreciate my time with them when they are home. I am always trying to remember to be thankful for the time I have to work and the time I have to spend with my children, but at times I would love to be able to work for days on end in my studio with no interruptions, or pick up and travel on short notice, alone and unencumbered. Give me another 6 or 8 years and maybe I will have overcome this struggle, but it is a constant in my life.
This past summer I took the kids on a cross-country road trip for five weeks so I could explore new cities and places while spending the summer with my children. It was an amazing experience, and while I didn't get to take nearly as many photos as I would have liked, I was creating memories and having adventures with my children that we will all remember for a lifetime. And I paid (bribed) my kids with Monopoly money to allow me the occasional photograph whenever inspiration struck (that is, whenever we passed a vista, a construction or garbage site). The kids loved it.
What do you hope for in the future (either for yourself or others)?
I hope people stop and take the time to look around at their surroundings focusing on all of the little details that make up the big picture. Sometimes it feels like we are all so busy running around, texting, emailing, keeping up with social media, the news, etc. that we forget to stop and appreciate where we are in that moment. While I would love to be out traveling the world, most of the time I am driving soccer carpool and taking trips to the grocery store. But when I stop for five minutes to photograph a dumpster on the side of the road, it forces me to stop and really study it looking for interesting angles and strong compositions. Photography forces me to see the world from a different angle, a different perspective – to study the small details that make up the big picture.
Follow Jennifer on Instagram @jennifermckinnonrichman
