For Immediate Release
March 1, 2010
Contact: Wendy Norris, Norris Communications
415.307.3853; wendy@norriscommunications.biz
May 6 - August 7, 2010
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 6 from 5 - 8 pm
San Francisco, March 2010 – SF Camerawork’s upcoming May 2010 exhibitions display the work of two artists who, with subjects residing on the opposite ends of combat, visually depict aspects of the current wars in which the United States is engaged. Featuring Jennifer Karady’s inaugural exhibition of large-scale staged narrative portraiture, and the work of the 2010 winner of The Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers, Christopher Sims, the combination of these two bodies of work in one location provides a looking glass into an America most have never before seen.
Jennifer Karady’s compelling new series of photographs, In Country: Soldiers’ Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan, illustrate war, in particular the soldiers’ memories of it upon returning home. In Theater of War: Pretend Villages of Iraq and Afghanistan, Baum Award recipient Christopher Sims depicts the people and places that play a role in the fictitious Iraqi and Afghan ‘villages’ that serve as US military base training grounds for many soldiers prior to tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Jennifer Karady, In Country: Soldiers’ Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan
Photographer Jennifer Karady initiated her Soldiers’ Stories project in July 2006 in Florida while working with former Army Sgt. Steve Pyle. Pyle described to Karady his experience of war, and together they staged a photograph that told his story, at home, incorporating images from his combat memory and illustrating how his experiences as a soldier infiltrate his daily life with his large and supportive family. For the photograph, with his seven children and wife in the background, Sgt. Pyle re-enacted a moment during a routine patrol in Iraq in which his team was engaged in battle and Sgt. Pyle was injured. Providing cover fire, Pyle was working to get back to the team’s Humvee, when a mortar sent Pyle flying through the air, propelling him into a parked truck. Sustaining a severe brain injury, he was knocked out for a few seconds. When he regained consciousness, two Iraqi Nationals were kicking and beating him repeatedly. As one man reached for Pyle’s bayonet affixed to the chest of his fragmentation jacket, Pyle remembers thinking, “If I didn’t stop them, I was going to die. So I did what I had to do to disable these two guys beating on me. I used my bayonet on the guy directly on top of me and then I engaged the other man who had been kicking me. Then I hid under some blown up building debris for six hours until my team returned with backup.”
Karady’s collaboration with Sgt. Pyle was the beginning of a project that has proved ambitious in scope and emotional weight, and has continued to grow exponentially since she first began shooting in 2006. Over the past four years, Karady has produced a series of photographs with veterans in New Hampshire, Los Angeles, Florida, Virginia, New York City, and upstate New York, and she recently completed a month-long residency in San Francisco during which time SF Camerawork supported her work with Bay Area veterans in order to produce two new photographs for the upcoming exhibition.
Through extensive interviews and experiences, Karady came to notice that while each soldier’s story is unique, certain behaviors and responses are common among returning veterans. Revealing how an everyday event or occurrence can trigger a behavioral response, the photographs in Soldiers’ Stories serve as evidence that the experiences of war remain active in the consciousness of the veteran—a depiction that will provide viewers with profound new insights into the challenges faced by soldiers returning from war.
Notes SF Camerawork Executive Director Sharon Tanenbaum, “Jennifer Karady’s highly personal approach to photography creates not only an artistically strong series of images, but a powerful collection of soldiers' stories that we’re not seeing or hearing anywhere else. Jennifer’s project is conceptually based in a profound engagement with veterans of the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq. Although artist responses to these wars exist, this project—grounded in the particularized experience of returning veterans and made visible through those veterans' in-depth collaborations with the photographer—displays a compelling immediacy that differs drastically from documentary photographs of battle scenes. The collision between the soldier’s world and the civilian world, made evident by Karady’s photographs, allows viewers to glimpse a fragment of the individual soldier’s mindset after he or she returns home."
Karady’s methodology and process represent a highly determined, detail-oriented approach to portraiture that is akin to creating a film. The process of making each photograph requires approximately one month of her time and includes the conceptualization with the veteran, location scouting, production of a sketch, propping, makeup, costuming, rehearsing of the physical action, training local assistants, set construction, artificial lighting, and the actual photo shoot. Unlike some photographers who use actors to create staged narratives, Karady works with real people to dramatize their stories through metaphorical, narrative, and allegorical techniques. Each new work is initiated by an extensive interview process with the veteran and his/her family, followed by a collaboration in which the veteran re-enacts a chosen moment in uniform within the safe space of his/her normal everyday environment, often surrounded by family and friends.
As part of the artist’s recently completed residency in San Francisco, SF Camerawork partnered with Swords to Plowshares, creating the opportunity for Karady to engage with Bay Area veterans. It was through these community ties that Karady gained introductions to veterans with whom she collaborated to create some of the photographs which will be included in her exhibition. As part of the exhibition programming, SF Camerawork, along with Swords to Plowshares, will invite veterans to attend the exhibition and a special private reception that will feature discussions with the artist and the veterans depicted in the images. The public will also beinvited to a series of forums at SF Camerawork during which Karady will discuss her work.
In addition to the exhibition of Karady’s work, consisting of twelve large-scale 48 x 48 inch color photographs, each accompanied by a short synopsis of the veteran’s story written in the veteran’s own words, SF Camerawork will publish an exhibition catalogue. As the first publication of this body of work, the exhibition catalogue will allow the impact from Soldiers’ Stories from Iraq & Afghanistan to reach far beyond the SF Camerawork gallery walls.
SF Camerawork received funding for this project from the Columbia Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation.
Christopher Sims, Theater of War: Pretend Villages of Iraq and Afghanistan:
The 2010 Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers
In celebration of the 2010 Baum Award for Emerging
American Photographers, SF Camerawork will feature the
work of award recipient Christopher Sims in Theater of
War: Pretend Villages of Iraq and Afghanistan, opening
May 6, 2010.
“We are very pleased to announce the recipient of the seventh Baum Award, Christopher Sims, who was chosen from an impressive group of nominees from across the country,” says Glenn Bucksbaum, President of The Baum Foundation. “We hope this award will provide Christopher with the support to continue his creative work.”
Sims’ photographs depict the people and places that play a role in the fictitious Iraqi and Afghan "villages" that serve as US military training grounds for many soldiers prior to tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. Located in remote areas of the United States, from California’s Death Valley to the deep backwoods of Louisiana and North Carolina, 2010 Baum Award winner Christopher Sims had access to these restricted areas, thanks to both the military’s public affairs office and his character role as "war photographer" in one of the "villages," where, as a result, he was able to create the award-winning series of images.
Spread out over thousands of acres, "villagers" in these military training grounds are often from local communities near the Army bases. They feature such a vast array of individuals to include spouses of active duty soldiers, as well as military veterans of America’s wars in Vietnam and Korea, some of whom are amputees and who play the part of wounded villagers in their new identities. Pretend villagers featured in the photographs are often recent immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan who have now found work in America playing a version of the lives they left behind.
Comments photographer Sims “Here, backstage in the war on terrorism, I see insurgents planting a bomb in a Red Crescent ambulance; American soldiers negotiating with a reluctant mayor; a suicide bomber detonating herself outside of a mosque; and villagers erupting in an anti- American riot. The designers and inhabitants of these worlds take great pride in the scope and fidelity of their wars-in-miniature. By day’s end, hundreds of soldiers and civilians lay dead—the electronic sensors on their special halters indicating whether friendly fire, an improvised explosive device, ora sniper’s bullet has killed them.”
Hosting the Baum Award exhibition for the third year, Sharon Tanenbaum, Executive Director of SF Camerawork notes, “Introducing a reality and locales largely unknown to most Americans, Sims creates beautifully formal photographs, but with the extraordinary twist of this surreal element of modern-day war. We are delighted to feature 2010 Baum Award recipient Christopher Sims, who clearly has produced a body of work that continues in the illustrious tradition of this important award.”
Sims is the seventh recipient of The Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers, one of the largest national awards available in photography and the only award in the United States to single out "emerging" photographers for support. Through the generosity of Glenn and April Bucksbaum of The Baum Foundation, this $10,000 cash grant honors a talented and innovative photographer at a pivotal moment in the development of his or her career.
About the 2010 Baum Award:
Glenn and April Bucksbaum of The Baum Foundation established The Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers in 2001. Previous award winners include Deborah Luster (2001), Luis Gispert (2003), Katy Grannan (2004), Lisa Kereszi (2005), Mike Brodie (2008), and Sean McFarland (2009).
Support for The Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers and for the accompanying exhibition has been provided by The Baum Foundation.
CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:
What:For more exhibit information or images contact: Wendy Norris, Norris Communications, 415.307.3853 or wendy@norriscommunications.biz.
Founded in 1974, SF Camerawork encourages emerging and mid-career artists to explore new directions in photography and related media by fostering creative forms of expression that push existing boundaries. Throughout its history, SF Camerawork has nurtured artists, mentored youth and helped make San Francisco a destination for the exploration of photography as an artist’s medium. Its exhibitions are nationally recognized as a focal point for innovation, a pacesetter for new trends in the medium and a launching pad for the careers of young artists. With three galleries and an education center at its new centrally located facility, SF Camerawork is the only non-profit organization in the Bay Area with an exhibition space and educational programs focused exclusively on contemporary photography and related visual image media. It is an accessible venue for people to view exhibitions, meet artists, participate in educational programs, peruse photographic publications, and gather for lectures, screenings, portfolio reviews, and discussions.
All exhibitions are on view Tuesday – Saturday, 12 - 5 pm at SF Camerawork, 657 Mission St., Second Floor. Admission to the gallery is $5 for the general public, $2 for students and seniors, and free to Camerawork members. For more information, please call 415.512.2020.