“Wish you were here,” the postcard writer’s cliche, lost its ability to communicate meaningful information a while ago. As a title for a photography show, “WYWH” is equally cloudy.
Not to worry. The photographs in the three-person inLiquid show in the Painted Bride cafe communicate plenty about the world and about the way three young photographers, Brian Connor, Mark Indig and Brian Moss, are seeing it. (top image is Moss’s “Nissan 405.”)
What I’m showing you here, three shots that focus on infrastructure (a highway, a billboard, a bridge construction) are imbued with a kind of documentary forlorn-ness. You might even think, from what’s here, that the three pictures were made by the same person.
Cyberspace lies in many ways and in this case, you can’t see that Moss’s works (like the top one) are square-format shots.
…Or that Connor’s work is large and mounted, unframed on an understructure of aluminum or plexi. (above is Connor’s “I really believe in you”)
…And that Indig’s work is small, framed and under glass. (below is Indig’s “Under Construction.”)
It makes a difference.
When I saw the show Friday night, inLiquid’s John Murphy, who curated it, mentioned that Indig is a location scout for the movies. And it shows. His work, more than the other two artists’, felt pregnant with expectation. Cue the closeup and the actors.
There seems to be much forlorn roadside photography in the world these days. It responds to the times — full of questioning about man’s place in the greater scheme of things. It tells me that young artists are worried about the future. These are not happy pictures. But they show minds at work trying to study their way out of the present.
All three artists are inLiquid artists. You can see more images (and see these slightly larger) on their artists’ pages on the site.
