“We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.” Ralph Hattersley Today we were lucky to have with us a talented photographer, Ellen Friedlander....no relationship to Gary. Ellen , in her own right is a long standing street photographer and visual interpreter of her life story. Ellen told four visual stories....in her own words with images to follow each narrative. Betrayal: Shattered in a Moment "A child was conceived and everything changed. I learned that my husband of 25 years had fathered a child with another woman. And yet, my love for this man had not waned nor had his love for me, but he had lost his way. I grieved deeply, counseled my children on their grief and confusion, and through thousands of conversations have grown to understand this man but in a profoundly new way. Putting myself in front of the camera in times of paralyzed sadness has helped my inner being process very complex emotions and to free negative energy. Deliberately cutting these emotionally fueled photographs into vertical uneven strips and reassembling them is the physical manifestation of letting go of this story that no longer serves me. As the new photograph takes shape using the strips, I feel renewed and invigorated to let myself shed the past and be free to find happiness." Street Extended (part my exploration of the Extended Frame photograph) "With my project, Street Extended, I am visually creating a non-linear diary of spaces and places that have been imprinted on my psyche and examining the spatial disorientation that I encounter when traveling or walking my local neighborhoods. I am literally extending the frame to include a series of images, that when combined, create a unique and new reality. This illusion of place is, in fact, visual confusion, but the consistency of elements in the images allow for the recognition that the scene could actually exist. The brain has the ability to recognize place, despite substantial appearance variations, and this allows for new truths and re-contextualization of realities." Portraits In-Camera "Today I shared a few portraits that were inspired by my exploration into multiple exposure captures on the street and with my own self-portraits. Last July, I was invited to participate in Kristine Schomakers’ project Perceive Me which is a conceptual idea around body image and perception, in which 60 artists from all artistic mediums have been invited to participate in making portraits of a nude Kristine, with their own visions. When Kristine came to my house for my photo session, I knew that I wanted to experiment with making a triple in-camera portrait of her. The success of this process with the portrait of Kristine has inspired me to continue to challenge myself as I seek to create a body of work using triple in-camera portraits." Meditation I Grew UP "The Adirondack Mountains, lakes and the landscape of the East Coast is where I have an emotional connection because this is where I am from. Last summer I charged myself with the challenge to create photographs that did not look like those that I had made in years past. I wanted to find a way to convey the tranquility that I feel when I am home in a more personal way. This portfolio is an on-going exploration of that environment." Ellen also took time to discuss some of her technical approaches to her work and projects. Together with her personal insights, the images she brought and showed, the 90 minutes was jammed packed and provocative.
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