Outlook

Project Statement

“Outlook” presents landscapes both personal and communal. Through the intertwining of light and composition we can recognize what the familiar has to offer. The powerful color of Chris Plunkett’s oil paintings and the atmospheres of Vicki McKenna’s black and white photographic prints celebrate the commonplace. They ask you to forego the preconditioned expectations of scenic grandeur and uncover interest in the everyday.

I present photographs from three projects of personal landscapes, both natural and developed. The projects are united by a common thread of scale. Encompassing a natural field of view, the images are relatable. It is easy to envision being there. However, each project is motivated by a different underlying emotion—nostalgia, contentment, or humor. A print is the final expression of the image that I’ve conceived when taking the photograph, and I view the craftsmanship involved with printing to be as important as the original composition of the photograph. I chose to print these images in black and white using the platinum/palladium process because I want them to be focused on form and texture. Since we’re accustomed to seeing the world represented in color, a black and white image is a step away from obvious reality, thus encouraging the viewer to look more closely. The platinum/palladium process is an historic, hand-crafted process that results in an image with a long dynamic range and subtle mid-tones.