Focus:Refocus
a Photographic Resurgence
Focus:Refocus, a Photographic Resurgence, features the work of all five OSU art photography instructors: Steve Anchell, Chris Becerra, Julia Bradshaw, Harrison Branch and Jim Folts, and features a wide-ranging selection of photographic visions. This exhibition marks the reintroduction of the BFA and BA/BS in Photography at Oregon State University. It is anticipated that the revamping of Photography as a stand along degree program will enrich the curriculum and provide more opportunities for students to focus on photography, while also continuing to provide them the opportunity to interact across the curriculum with other programs such as Fine Art and New Media.
Anchell is an internationally published artist and author. He has exhibited his work in numerous galleries and public collections. He has published three books, The Darkroom Cookbook, The Variable Contrast Printing Manual, and The Film Developing Cookbook. He is a contributing writer for Rangefinder and Photo Technique magazines, and has written columns, feature articles and interviews for Shutterbug, View Camera, Camera Arts, PIC, and PhotoPro magazines. He is also the former editor of the magazines, Photovision: Art and Technique and Focus Fine Art Photography. As of 2012, Anchell is a new instructor of Art at Oregon State University.
Born in Manchester England, Bradshaw spent nine years living and working in Munich, Germany prior to moving to the United States. These international moves and her background in international project management are the fodder for her creative focus in making artworks that respond to language and cultural exchanges. She received her MFA in photography from San Jose State University in 2007 and works with photography, video and performance. Her works have been exhibited in Germany, the Netherlands and throughout the United States. A recent arrival in Oregon from California, she is assistant professor for photography and video art at Oregon State University.
Harrison Branch focuses on Palladium/Platinum photographs printed as contact prints. He studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and Yale University. Branch has been exhibited nationally, and is included in the collections of the International Center of Photography, NY; Oakland Museum, Oakland, California; and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France.
Jim Folts’ work is an exploration of the possibilities, and limitations, of portraiture. He writes, “I wanted to make a kind of memorial to my friend and colleague John Maul, who died about two months ago. I wanted to make a portrait that was not an image of the face. For those of us who attempt portraits that are more than a pleasant likeness--who want to make an image that reveals something of the inner subject, not just the outer surface--portraits can be a frustrating challenge.
“This work takes its cue from new journalist Tom Wolfe, who observed that what people surround themselves with can offer insight into what they value and how they express themselves in their personal created environment. This is, of course, an imperfect process, and I have attempted to acknowledge those shortcomings in the way this work is assembled and displayed. Despite their imperfections, however, these images seem to me to capture something of John: his sense of humor, his ranging intellectual and artistic interests, his love of making things, and his fascination with the look of things.”
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