I had the opportunity to stop into some gallery openings in Chinatown this past First Friday, one of which was Space 1026, a nice open space that was displaying photographs by Sandy Kim and Logan White. Both artists use 35 millimeter film to capture images that are reminiscent of documentary style photography, attempting to capture subjects that are often inaccessible or private, photographs that are meant to be objective and honest. While their styles differ, both Kim and Logan show photos with a bit of grit and grunge. Their use of 35 millimeter film gives each of their photos a fuzzier, more retro feel. While the subjects are intimate, we get a blurred snapshot of who these people are and the ways in which they live.
My favorite piece of the night was San Franciscan Sandy Kim’s photograph “Muddy Smoke,” a sort of nostalgic, dirty image of friendship and youth. The photo is of two friends, both with matted down hair and covered in mud, a young woman breathing smoke into a young man’s mouth. Much like “Muddy Smoke,” the majority of Kim’s photographs in this exhibit focus around her own life, capturing images of the people and places that inhabit it. Many of the images are of young adults, smoking, hanging out, and grinning, and the images are light-hearted. Compared to Nan Goldin’s photographs of people hanging out, Kim’s photographs seem more tasteful, youthful, and fun. There is still that same grunge, but not the danger that Goldin’s work evokes. Kim’s photographs capture friends and portray them as such; these are people you want to hang out with.
Macon, Ga., photographer Logan White, on the contrary, gives us photographs that are deliberately erotic. The collection “Bad Manor” is filled with masochistic images that often resemble porn shots, as in the example of a woman being hit just so by the light shining through a large window. as she crawls on her hands and knees in an old Victorian mansion. White’s image “Untitled 8” captures this same woman through leaves and plant-life, standing tall, barely dressed. Some of the photographs look like American Apparel ads, displaying images of scantily clad women in overly sexual positions. The images are filled with smoke, lace, and lingerie but still have a commercial look to them. They are played out and fail to amuse, and even more fail to shock.
While I was not a huge fan of all the photographs on display at Space 1026, a visit to each of the photographers’ websites allowed me to see a wider range of the work these two ladies have available. Their photographs are at times raw, other times innocent, and occasionally they meet somewhere in between. The show runs until October 29th and is worth a quick peek if in the area.
