What's New is Old Again with Luther Gerlach

07/15/2022 06:30 PM - 08:00 PM ET

Category

Arts Center

Admission

  • Free

Description

How the digital revolution has spurred a renewed interest in handmade historical photographic processes 

 

 

In this lecture, Luther Gerlach will explore the history of photography from its earliest conception through the digital revolution. Taking the interrelation of process and technology as our focus, Gerlach will be displaying cameras and lenses from my personal collection as examples. As we follow the evolution of photographic technology to the point of digital negatives, we’ll see how historical photographic processes are now accessible to anyone with an iPhone.

 

Bio:

Luther Gerlach has been working in historical photographic processes for the past 40 years, highlighting the role of constraints in creative production and the hand-made, tactile connection between the artist and his work. Known for nude portraits and urban scenes of downtown LA in his early career, more recently Gerlach has pioneered the re-emergence of plein air wet plate collodion landscapes. His work distills detailed images of the natural world, particularly trees, seaweeds, and grasses, to emphasize pure light and line, endowing his images with a subtly abstract quality.

Gerlach apprenticed with Brett Weston in Carmel and Hawaii in the 1980s, before learning the wet plate process which he still works in today. He led lectures and demonstrations at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles for nearly twenty years. He has exhibited at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Ventura Museum of Art, the Schaknow Museum of Fine Art, Miami, the Denver Art Museum, and The Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe. Selected permanent collections include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Michael G. Wilson Centre for Photography, among others.

The artist lives and works in historic Hampton, Connecticut where he offers workshops, master printing services, and darkroom rentals from his English-style barn, Little River Studio.

 

www.luthergerlach.net

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