John Wall: 1st Place Winner

Winner of the Winter 2011 Competition

OBECTIFIED

Artwork that brings an inanimate object/objects to life.

An exploration of the use of objects in a body of work.

30% OFF AND MORE!

photography

12 x 18in
250. usd

THE EMBODIMENT OF DESIRE

photography

12 x 18 in
250. usd

MAKING A MAN IN MANHATTAN

photography

18 x 12in
250. usd

artist statement

The Surface of Desire

This body of work draws on the conventions of street photography to explore the interplay of passion, fear, enticement, and image that constitutes the intersection of public and personal spaces in our culture. This work is about the other we want to be or fear we have become, as well as the role of the photographer, and of the craft of photography, in commerce’s pandering to our needs and arousing our desires, tempting us to believe that the surface of display is enough to bring satisfaction of our dreams and meaning to our lives.

Department store mannequins give body to our dreams, our insecurities, our hopes, our passions. They become objectifications of the images we hope to present to the world, the glamour of fashion, the aura of confidence, the appearance of poise, the simulacrum of joy. They are who we want to be, and all we have to do is change clothes with them to become that image. But of course they are made, and made up, they give body to the cliché that beauty is only one layer deep.

The camera is of course complicit in the reflections of desire that fashion offers us. Glass surfaces mirror the work of the camera and multiply its work of observation, enabling moments of composure and surprise in the ebb and flow of things and events, when the strange looks familiar and the familiar looks very strange. The dream world of beautiful images enables and confines, for it defines the cost of hope, the price of desire, the terms of solicitation. In the midst of it all, we make our own way, knowing that we may be freed or trapped by how we play the game.

bio

John N. Wall is a photographer, a writer, and a teacher at NC State University in Raleigh, NC. He has exhibited his work in solo and juried exhibitions across North Carolina and the USA, from Vermont to Texas and from Florida to California.

His work has received numerous awards, including First Place and Best in Show for black and white photography.

His photographs are in the permanent collections of the Gregg Museum of Art and Design at NC State University and the Office of International Affairs at Texas Tech University.

He has received Emerging Artist Grants from the Wake County Arts Council in 2004 and 2008.

He is also the manager of the Blog about Fine Art Photography in the American South at http://southphotography.blogspot.com/.

He holds a Certificate in Documentary Photography from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.

j o h n n. w a l l

raleigh, north carolina [USA]

www.jnwallphoto.com

jnwallphoto@gmail.com

ArtSceneToday Q&A

Q: Where do you see yourself in the art scene today?

A: I’m an emerging artist and photographer who is moving from my roots in documentary and street photography to more conceptual work. My initial approach as an artist was to go with my camera into the world to see what the world had to offer. Now I continue to use the traditional practices of street photography but I find myself identifying in advance issues or concerns or situations I want to explore more fully in the environments where I make my work.

Q: What is in your inspiration?

A: I’m inspired by the way photography enables me to be more intentional in seeing, in interpreting, and in sharing my experience of the world around me. Photography has the unique quality among the artistic media of making available to a larger audience one’s more or less direct visual perception of the world, in a way that includes the surface of that world, the light that makes it visible, the characteristics of the artistic medium through which that world comes to us through the image, and the interpretive actions of the photographer who brings it to us.

Q: What are your challenges?

A: At the moment, my challenges are two-fold. Artistically, I want my images to engage the viewer, both by being interesting at first glance but also by providing at least hint of surprise and mystery that invites the viewer to further contemplation. I’m challenged now to integrate color into my work, to find out how (and if) I can use color to enhance my goals for my images. Professionally, I’m challenged to career development, chiefly by becoming better at what I do and also by finding ways to get my work in front of the people who will take is seriously. I’m also interested in my place as a photographer who lives and works in the American South, and my relationship to other Southern photographers. That’s why I started the blog, http://southphotography.blogspot.com, to learn what other people who share my location and experience are doing in coming to terms with the complex legacy of Southern history and interpreting it to others.

Q: How did you/do you choose your medium?

A: I find the camera a natural extension of my visual experience of the world. I find that all methods of making art require the disciplined acquisition of craft and skill, but the techniques of other artistic media felt like a barrier to my vision. The camera feels right; it complements my instinctive impulses, helps discipline my visual experience, and inspires me to become more proficient in its use.

Q: Which artist has influenced you the most?

A: I continue to draw inspiration from the masters of street photography, especially Robert Frank, Gene Smith, and Garry Winogrand. I’m also influenced by the masters of Southern American photography, including William Christenberry, William Eggleston, and Sally Mann. Among younger artists, I’m constantly engaged by the work of Debbie Fleming Caffery and Susan Harbage Page.

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