After Image
Amy Arbus
School House Gallery Provincetown, MA.
June 29 – July 18, 2012

Sometimes we’ll start work on a project and have no idea what we’re being presented with (conceptually) … and really, that’s not such so unusual if you think about it ’cause, I mean, we are just the technicians after all and somewhat removed from the “intellectual” side of the process …but it’s actually kind of fun, trying to figure what’s going on in a project beyond the technical perimeters. So as you can imagine, this is one of those projects that had us scratching our heads for a bit …

Anyway, for some clarity, read on:

From the gallery’s press release:  Arbus is no stranger to portraiture, but this latest series is perhaps her most visually arresting to date: After Images is a daring and vivid evocation of classic paintings by Picasso, Modigliani, Schiele, and Ingres to which the photographer brings her own style and originality.

And in her words: In emulating these paintings, the challenge for me has been to use much softer lighting than I have in the past and to figure out how to represent the sloped shoulders, elongated necks and fingers that don’t exist in real life. The more I make these images the more involved I become in how they differ from the originals.

Amy Arbus: Nina After Jeanne, 2012 from After Image
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Amy Arbus: Manuel After Patroclus, 2012 from After Image
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Amy Arbus: Nina After Melancholy, 2012 from After Image
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Amy Arbus: Qwen After Peasant, 2012 from After Image
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Amy Arbus: Nina After Raven, 2012 from After Image
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Tags: Amy Arbus, Digital-C Printing, Exhibitions, Mounting