Tag Archives: Copywork

Yesterday I drove up to Seattle’s Grover Thurston Gallery to photograph work for artist Gabriel Manca.  What a beautiful gallery!  Why can’t Portland have a Pioneer square full of art galleries!  How about a Pike Place Market too!  Oh wait we used to have one of those… The Portland Public Market. I still prefer Portland – I got bleary eyed seeing Seattle again, but I found the lack of food-carts upsetting.

Gabe’s from Enterprise and I love that he incorporates imagery that is familiar to me as an Oregonian.  I’m not going to critique his work here – I’d just blabber on about how amazing he is – but if you’d like you can read one entitled “What a pretty picture – OMG what’s happening in it!”

The Sea Contains Only a Few Small Islands

I love working with artists, so its puzzling to me that some photographers find doing copy-work for artists boring.  I suspect that it’s related to the age old criticism that’s at the heart of photography as an art form “but you didn’t create it- you just saw it and pressed a button!” Or it could just be that we all have different subjects we like to photograph and different folks we like to work with.

In any case, I think doing copy work for artists is one of the most interesting things I do as a photographer.  It’s fascinating what I learn about the craft and the meaning of the pieces when I get to work with an artist and talk to them about their work.  I get a kind of familiarity with the art that I couldn’t get as a casual viewer in a gallery.   I don’t mind that the work I create is “unoriginal” in the sense that I’m hired to represent someone else’s vision.  I can create my vision some other time.

If You Think I'm Cute, You Should See My Daddy!

Last year, I visited Gabriel Manca’s studio.  His place is museum of acquired stuff arranged in categories for when his art requires an object.  He’s a master of finding free materials, including an outdated armory which he dragged onto his property and has converted into a beautiful studio using his carpentry skills.  He’s also created a forest glen with sculptural elements between his house and his workspace.

Can’t wait to get back and see what he’s working on next time I make it to Wallowa County.