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Showing posts with label william zuback. Show all posts
Showing posts with label william zuback. Show all posts
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
I meet the coolest and most interesting individuals
Sojourner is a wonderfully fascinating individual who has, and continues to lead, a beautifully rich life. Experiencing it with a passion for learning, observing and feeling.
We share the same interest in meeting new individuals and creating positive and creative collaborations. Our portrait session was nothing short of amazing. Among the many portraits we created, I also had the opportunity to add to my growing series which is, Untitled (The Dress).
It's an exploration of interaction and identity with this one dress and what it represents. Here is one of our collaborations from Sunday morning's photo session.
We share the same interest in meeting new individuals and creating positive and creative collaborations. Our portrait session was nothing short of amazing. Among the many portraits we created, I also had the opportunity to add to my growing series which is, Untitled (The Dress).
It's an exploration of interaction and identity with this one dress and what it represents. Here is one of our collaborations from Sunday morning's photo session.
© William Zuback
Monday, May 5, 2014
Sojourner
Sundays portrait session, Sojourner. What a beautiful, strong, and free spirit she is.
© William Zuback
Monday, April 14, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Whats old is new again, analog one year later
It's been almost one year ago that I pulled out and dusted off the 4x5 view camera along with some vintage odd camera's and dedicated myself to exclusively creating my fine art images with film again. With this experiment came a renewed appreciation for the craft of photography, which for people who know me, is very important. I've had successes and failures with this "new again" old process of picture making but the successes far exceeded my expectations and I don't see myself going back soon.
My current work flow process is that I photograph my subjects with my 4x5 view camera and then process the film in my crude but functional darkroom. I do have an enlarger and could take the traditional process through to completion but found the print and paper quality of today's inkjet printers makes my work look like a traditional beautiful black and white print. So I scan my film to an old Epson scanner, one sheet at a time, do my minor tweaks in Photoshop and then make a digital print. I'm loving the results and the process.
It's forced me to renew the discipline of the skills I've learned and leave behind the bad habits I've created from shooting digital for the last 12 years. I'm in love with the process, there is no denying that. I feel that the people that step in front of my camera have also come to love the process as well. Some of them never having been captured with film before.
Everything is forced to slow down to make it work. No more rapid fire of model movements. Each pose thought out, tested, rearranged, "yes, that's it"!, perfect, don't move, click. Sometimes I only use the modeling lights on my strobes and my sitter is asked to hold steady for a one, two, sometimes three second exposures. Sometimes I sync to my strobes and capture the moment in a flash.
What I have found through out this past year is that I shoot less but have a higher quantity in ratio to the amount of captures, that are wonderful, usable images. A normal figure study/portrait session consists of capturing 20-30 images and I've found the results and reward to be unparalleled, at least for me, my methods and my desired outcome.
I listen more and see more broadly, fine tuning each detail to be right in the camera. I experience more, I share more, I am seeing through a new set of eyes!
My current work flow process is that I photograph my subjects with my 4x5 view camera and then process the film in my crude but functional darkroom. I do have an enlarger and could take the traditional process through to completion but found the print and paper quality of today's inkjet printers makes my work look like a traditional beautiful black and white print. So I scan my film to an old Epson scanner, one sheet at a time, do my minor tweaks in Photoshop and then make a digital print. I'm loving the results and the process.
It's forced me to renew the discipline of the skills I've learned and leave behind the bad habits I've created from shooting digital for the last 12 years. I'm in love with the process, there is no denying that. I feel that the people that step in front of my camera have also come to love the process as well. Some of them never having been captured with film before.
Everything is forced to slow down to make it work. No more rapid fire of model movements. Each pose thought out, tested, rearranged, "yes, that's it"!, perfect, don't move, click. Sometimes I only use the modeling lights on my strobes and my sitter is asked to hold steady for a one, two, sometimes three second exposures. Sometimes I sync to my strobes and capture the moment in a flash.
What I have found through out this past year is that I shoot less but have a higher quantity in ratio to the amount of captures, that are wonderful, usable images. A normal figure study/portrait session consists of capturing 20-30 images and I've found the results and reward to be unparalleled, at least for me, my methods and my desired outcome.
I listen more and see more broadly, fine tuning each detail to be right in the camera. I experience more, I share more, I am seeing through a new set of eyes!
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| Current ©William Zuback 2013 |
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| Abstract II ©William Zuback 2013 |
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| Quiet ©William Zuback 2013 |
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| Midnight ©William Zuback 2014 |
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| iphone self portrait
I am always looking for interested and enthusiastic sitters to create beautiful portraits. Message me if interested.
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Monday, March 11, 2013
Film, why have I ignored you so long?
It has been about six weeks since I immersed myself completely in shooting film again with my fine art and commission work after over a decade hiatus shooting only digital. I have spent most of my professional life shooting with film but when digital took over, the economics and convenience of it was to much to ignore. Dedicating myself to strictly digital since 2001 has now brought me back full circle. Film; Why have I ignored you so long?
What has the return to film photography meant to me personally and professionally? Film has enlivened a child like enthusiasm to what and how I see again. I am paying closer attention to the details, knowing that I need to get this right, here at the capture stage, because there isn't any fancy post production work that will fix it if I don't.
I have begun capturing my images with a variety of 2 1/4 as well as sheet film camera's. I think I am most enjoying the process of shooting again with a view camera. Dark cloth over the head, loupe on the ground glass, meticulously analyzing all four corners and everything in-between. I have once again fallen in love with the process of photographing people with this large cumbersome piece of equipment. Part of your attention is definitely on the equipment itself because there is so much you need to do prior to capture. I have found though, that this slow methodical process has also created a real openness and clarity when a person is in front of the lens.
It is because of the slowness of set-up and capture that you need to maintain a genuine and honest dialog with the sitter. A dialog that goes beyond the instruction of pose and one more personal and real. You do shoot less, the client doesn't get 50+ images to choose from but you create a real live experience that is wonderful, challenging and rewarding.
What has the return to film photography meant to me personally and professionally? Film has enlivened a child like enthusiasm to what and how I see again. I am paying closer attention to the details, knowing that I need to get this right, here at the capture stage, because there isn't any fancy post production work that will fix it if I don't.
I have begun capturing my images with a variety of 2 1/4 as well as sheet film camera's. I think I am most enjoying the process of shooting again with a view camera. Dark cloth over the head, loupe on the ground glass, meticulously analyzing all four corners and everything in-between. I have once again fallen in love with the process of photographing people with this large cumbersome piece of equipment. Part of your attention is definitely on the equipment itself because there is so much you need to do prior to capture. I have found though, that this slow methodical process has also created a real openness and clarity when a person is in front of the lens.
It is because of the slowness of set-up and capture that you need to maintain a genuine and honest dialog with the sitter. A dialog that goes beyond the instruction of pose and one more personal and real. You do shoot less, the client doesn't get 50+ images to choose from but you create a real live experience that is wonderful, challenging and rewarding.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The Identity Project, Dismantlement & Rebirth
The idea of the Identity Project has been in my mind for well over six years. The work I finally created is much different than what I sketched so many years ago. Like any good story it must have a great beginning, middle, and end. This is the end for this stage of the project and it's ending is at a place and time that feels right.
A recent book I read called Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon has a powerful line, "Dismantlement equals freedom". That is where I'm at with this series. I created my first set of images for the Identity Project series in April and now four months later it is complete and ready to be dismantled. Another powerful passage that resonated as I was near completion of this project was this, "Suz smiled. "Don't you get it?" she asked. "It's the ultimate act of creativity. Destruction is transformation. In order to be reborn, you have to die." Well, the series is just beginning a new life as I move from creation to exhibition. A rebirth for sure. During this process I've also found a couple additional series that can be pulled from the larger umbrella of the Identity Project. One of these additional series was what helped me get selected for the CoPA Scholarship which will allow me to create a book along with the exhibition, scheduled next year for the Identity Project.
So as the lights come down from the Identity Project I feel a sense of freedom as I begin some additional creative journeys. One liberating transformation of this symbolic destruction will be my exploration into painting. Something I haven't done since high school. I've been encouraged by some art friends that I can do it. We will see, but I'm sure the journey will be exciting none the less.
So as I leave the Identity Project behind until it's exhibition and accompanying book later next year, I will leave you with some interesting facts from this visual journey:
A recent book I read called Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon has a powerful line, "Dismantlement equals freedom". That is where I'm at with this series. I created my first set of images for the Identity Project series in April and now four months later it is complete and ready to be dismantled. Another powerful passage that resonated as I was near completion of this project was this, "Suz smiled. "Don't you get it?" she asked. "It's the ultimate act of creativity. Destruction is transformation. In order to be reborn, you have to die." Well, the series is just beginning a new life as I move from creation to exhibition. A rebirth for sure. During this process I've also found a couple additional series that can be pulled from the larger umbrella of the Identity Project. One of these additional series was what helped me get selected for the CoPA Scholarship which will allow me to create a book along with the exhibition, scheduled next year for the Identity Project.
So as the lights come down from the Identity Project I feel a sense of freedom as I begin some additional creative journeys. One liberating transformation of this symbolic destruction will be my exploration into painting. Something I haven't done since high school. I've been encouraged by some art friends that I can do it. We will see, but I'm sure the journey will be exciting none the less.
So as I leave the Identity Project behind until it's exhibition and accompanying book later next year, I will leave you with some interesting facts from this visual journey:
- 14 men volunteered to be a part of the Identity Project
- The median age of the male participants was 56.
- 19 females volunteered to be a part of the Identity Project.
- The median age of the female participants was 38.
- Out of the 33 individuals who participated in this series, 21 volunteered unsolicited and 12 volunteered when asked to be a part of the project.
- I took 1,750 digital captures in the creation of the images needed for the Identity Project.
- Some AMAZING honest stories came out of this series from it's participants.
- I grew as a person and an artist from my chance to work with so many beautiful human beings.
- The "Suspicious Behavior" series was a by product of The Identity Project.
- A series of encaustic nudes is another series that is a result of The Identity Project.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Book Passages, Revisited
What have you read lately? That is how I started a blog post in February 2009. This began a visual journey in which I asked for and created visual interpretations from brief book passages submitted by readers of my blog, BacktotheZu News.
I am now privileged with the opportunity to exhibit this photographic series next year at Carroll University's Rowe Art Gallery. Bringing this photographic series into an academic setting like Carroll University has been a goal of mine since creating this work in 2009. A university gallery is the perfect setting for this series which draws on so many different creative elements allowing for departmental collaboration with potential assignments and important dialog. I am interested in developing another dialog through my blog by creating some new visual interpretations from book passages submitted here on my blog, by you. Unlike the first process in which I took the passages in the order they were received, I plan to choose a small selection from those submitted to include in the exhibit next October 2012.
Post your brief book passage below, include the title of the book and author. If I select your passage for a visual interpretation you will receive a print of my finished interpretation.
Visual Haiku (above image) is the title of the interpretation I created from a passage by M.S. Merwin, In the Language of Life by Bill Moyers. During the opening reception at the Tenth Street Gallery, Chris Flieller, Artistic Director at In Tandem Theatre provided dramatic readings of each book passage. This created another element to the communication and interpretation dialog involved in this creative process.
I am now privileged with the opportunity to exhibit this photographic series next year at Carroll University's Rowe Art Gallery. Bringing this photographic series into an academic setting like Carroll University has been a goal of mine since creating this work in 2009. A university gallery is the perfect setting for this series which draws on so many different creative elements allowing for departmental collaboration with potential assignments and important dialog. I am interested in developing another dialog through my blog by creating some new visual interpretations from book passages submitted here on my blog, by you. Unlike the first process in which I took the passages in the order they were received, I plan to choose a small selection from those submitted to include in the exhibit next October 2012.
Post your brief book passage below, include the title of the book and author. If I select your passage for a visual interpretation you will receive a print of my finished interpretation.
As stated by a Milwaukee Art Professor, The idea behind this body of work is the collaborative connection between
me and the person who selects the passage of writing and the original passage itself. A three way triangle. One person
sees and writes, one person reads and relates and an artist brings to light an idea of what the vision is. What do these
diverse connections tell the viewer about the nature of perception and life? The essence of this project is the
complexity of human communication. The beauty of this project is deeper and richer than just the pictures. It's in the
way that we each communicate our idea's and emotions to each other and try to understand how this world works.
It is ever changing and ever reinterpreted. As the artist, I became the interpreter and the director.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The Portrait Project: Faces of Resilience by Colleen Kassner
Colleen Kassner will be one of thirty artists participating in the Madonna and Child: Interpreted exhibit I'm curating for Gallery H20/Soup's On, this fall. Colleen currently has a beautiful exhibit of her oil painted portraits showing at Gallery Grand in the Grand Avenue Club. The Grand Avenue Club (GAC) is an independent non-profit organization created to provide Milwaukee County citizens who experience mental illness, a supportive community with an array of opportunities to help with their recovery and productivity.
Colleen had the honor this past year of being the "Artist in Residence" at the Gallery Grand through a grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation/Mary Nohl fund. This residency culminated in the creation of twenty large oil painted portraits of Grand Avenue Club members.
The first thing I notice when exiting the elevator doors directing me down the short hallway to the gallery are these hauntingly beautiful larger than life self portraits of Colleen. They show her own earlier struggle with mental illness. Each painting rich with emotion and depth of character at a particular moment in time. I enter the gallery and am greeted by Colleen as she enthusiastically introduces me to the beautiful exhibition space. Each portrait is accompanied by a brief bio of the individual represented in her work.
We have all heard of the proverb stating that "the eyes are the window to the soul". Colleen's twenty oil painted portraits express that with an immense amount of accuracy and realism. As a portrait photographer I was immediately drawn to the expressive quality and attention that she represented in the eyes of all her friends. Each portrait representing the uniqueness of the individual. The luminous quality of the skin, especially the highlights, also drew me into each and every portrait. Colleen poignantly represents the twenty members of GAC with the love and respect she feels for both the people and the organization.
The show runs through September 23 with a closing/dedication event from 4:30-7:30, that evening. The gallery is located at 604 N. Water Street, Milwaukee, WI. and is open Tuesday's and Wednesday's from 10am-3pm or by appointment by calling 414-795-7108.
Colleen had the honor this past year of being the "Artist in Residence" at the Gallery Grand through a grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation/Mary Nohl fund. This residency culminated in the creation of twenty large oil painted portraits of Grand Avenue Club members.
The first thing I notice when exiting the elevator doors directing me down the short hallway to the gallery are these hauntingly beautiful larger than life self portraits of Colleen. They show her own earlier struggle with mental illness. Each painting rich with emotion and depth of character at a particular moment in time. I enter the gallery and am greeted by Colleen as she enthusiastically introduces me to the beautiful exhibition space. Each portrait is accompanied by a brief bio of the individual represented in her work.
We have all heard of the proverb stating that "the eyes are the window to the soul". Colleen's twenty oil painted portraits express that with an immense amount of accuracy and realism. As a portrait photographer I was immediately drawn to the expressive quality and attention that she represented in the eyes of all her friends. Each portrait representing the uniqueness of the individual. The luminous quality of the skin, especially the highlights, also drew me into each and every portrait. Colleen poignantly represents the twenty members of GAC with the love and respect she feels for both the people and the organization.
The show runs through September 23 with a closing/dedication event from 4:30-7:30, that evening. The gallery is located at 604 N. Water Street, Milwaukee, WI. and is open Tuesday's and Wednesday's from 10am-3pm or by appointment by calling 414-795-7108.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Building on the "Gestation" series
I feel this series is one that has many facets. I plan on exploring this subject for a while. Here is a sneak peek of Stage II of Gestation.
You can see earlier images from my Gestation series at my website.
Gestation taps into the emotions and connection to the creation of life. It evokes emotions of fear, delight, and surprise, as well as, reflections of one’s past, present and future. The images balance between a sense of calm and anxiety while representing a slice of life in one’s family album. Gestation is about beginnings and the challenges of life from conception to death, however long that span may be.
Gestation taps into the emotions and connection to the creation of life. It evokes emotions of fear, delight, and surprise, as well as, reflections of one’s past, present and future. The images balance between a sense of calm and anxiety while representing a slice of life in one’s family album. Gestation is about beginnings and the challenges of life from conception to death, however long that span may be.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Katie Gingrass Gallery presents Stay Still
Ten images from my "Life in Miniature" series are included in a group show that includes artists: Blythe Church, Bob Fojut, Pat Hidson, Beth Lipman, Nancy MacDonald, Darren Maurer, Milo Mirabelli, Jeff Mulloy, Sara Mulloy and myself at the Katie Gingrass Gallery.
The exhibit opened July 1 and runs through August. Join me at the artists reception on Friday July 8th from 5-8pm. If you can't make the reception, another great opportunity to check out the show will be during Gallery Night, July 29 from 5-9pm. The Katie Gingrass Gallery is located at 241 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI. 53202 and is open Monday - Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 12-4.
The exhibit opened July 1 and runs through August. Join me at the artists reception on Friday July 8th from 5-8pm. If you can't make the reception, another great opportunity to check out the show will be during Gallery Night, July 29 from 5-9pm. The Katie Gingrass Gallery is located at 241 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI. 53202 and is open Monday - Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 12-4.
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