The Black Harbor » Justin Fantl

Wayne Lawrence

Justin Fantl — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:04:02 +0000

Mr. Wayne Lawrence’s portraits taken at Orchard Beach feel honest. Depending on where you look and what you are looking at these days, there is at there is an awful lot of artifice out there and I like that these are the opposite of that. (Maybe I am just looking in the wrong places?) I feel that these are somehow more real and authentic moments and interactions. They are deeply revealing of the individual and as a body of work, viscerally document a particular slice of life and time. The color and composition are incredible and you can go back and forth between the visual nuances as well as a study in character. There are more images from this series and others on Mr. Lawrence’s website.

Jake Longstreth

Justin Fantl — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:16:22 +0000

I came across Jake’s work via Looseleaf as a small image on a web page and on a quick glance I thought they were photographs. My first reaction was that is exactly how I see things and try to photograph landscapes and this guy has done it! I wanted to see more and when I did, realized right away the images were in fact paintings. There is a certain contemporary emptiness and distance combined with strong graphic arrangement and lovely washed out color. The subject matter seems more photographic in nature but I think the medium of paint actually works better and is more poignant and metaphoric than many photographs of the same sort of things. The last image in this post will be one of my recent photographs. I have talked previously about the relationship between painting and photography and how they deal with similar issues on a visual level and I think this helps to illustrate that idea.

….and one of my recent photographs that deals with similar issues. . .

LS

Justin Fantl — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:08:33 +0000

Here are some images from recent travels. I have been on the road quite a lot at the beginning of this year. Where ever assignments lead me I try to take time to do some work on my own. I feel that some of this work has to with surface and isolation. Part of that must be a result of often being alone when going on these forays and experiencing the outside of things. There isn’t usually time to really dive deeply into something so I become more of a searcher. I think what I mean by “surface” does not have to do just with the physical surface of something but the the notion of the distance from things we all experience in the day to day.

Galvani

Justin Fantl — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:42:26 +0000

Andrea Galvani is an Italian artist working in Brooklyn NY. His work spans several genres including video, drawing and installations. There is a surreal quality and much of his work immediately raises the question of, “What am I looking at?”

Paul Strand

Justin Fantl — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:21:58 +0000

Paul Strand is a master. I am awe struck.

Grant Cornett

Justin Fantl — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:41:59 +0000

I really dig Grant Cornett’s work for several reasons. I think he has a truly unique voice and vision. The palette and feel is almost immediately recognizable and very much his own. This seems to be someone who is completely comfortable in their own skin and isn’t afraid of the critics. The use of color is very important. It seems to reference or hark back to a more vintage patina. Something nostalgic and compelling arises from this and I find myself lingering on the image while my brain tries to figure out if this is somehow historical or contemporary. Grant’s still life arrangements are also spot on and he seems equally adept at finding serendipity as well as building it. He is represented by the tres cool Hello Artists and you can find his work is all over. Some of the image below are from Grant’s blog http://thelivest1.com/.

Still Lifes – Mixed Bag

Justin Fantl — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:26:17 +0000

These first two images are inspired by the print designs from Hermes scarves. I love the playfulness of the patterns and the whimsy created by the color and objects.

These two handsome beasts were photographed at a local kennel. Great Danes are incredibly curious and seem to be much more aware of their surroundings than most dogs. They were a bit nervous around the lights at first but they did settle down a bit. The problem is that once they settled down they would bound towards me. Luckily I was on the floor so I never got knocked over. . . but I can’t say the same for one of my light stands.

These post it notes are a continuation of my paper/color studies. I think there are quite a few things going on in terms of influence . . . what actual pixels on a screen look like, Damien Hirst, Mondrian, old video games . . . to name a few. These take a while to put together but I like the subconscious way in which I form them. Loud music for one, and no method in terms of placing colors.

Steve Brahms

Justin Fantl — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:56:12 +0000

I have been digging this series by Steve Brahms. It is titled The Evasion Studies and captures people escaping from some post-apocalyptic even of which we know not. I like that we don’t know what the people are actually moving away from. And it may not even be world ending, all we know is that they are getting the fuck out of dodge. Questions are raised to be answered, or not, by you, the viewer, and that is partly why these images are so intriguing. Steve was at one point a photo editor for Bloomberg Business news but now creates images for such rags as Vice, Spin, Blender and is represented by the illustrious Goldteeth & Co.

Optical Illusions I

Justin Fantl — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:43:14 +0000

This shape could not exist 3 dimensionally. It is an impossible shape. The principle is much like MC Escher’s famous staircase.

For some time I have been interested in using paper as a medium. By experimenting with color and shape you can take something that is essentially 2 dimensional and create a 3 dimensional quality. Not only that, but you can influence and change perception with color and form alone. This grouping of images is aimed at playing with ideas of how we perceive color and shape through optical illusions. Most of these are based on famous illusions but I have re-interpreted them through paper cutouts. There is no photoshop. They are all constructed of cut paper and then photographed.

These two triangles are made up of the same pieces of paper. When rearranged one exhibits a gap along the bottom edge. Yet, they are the same size.

If you stare at this cube it will re-orient itself. A small cube may either appear to be sitting in the bottom corner of a cube or it will appear to be a bottom corner missing form a cube.

If you stare for a bit the cubes will simultaneously re-orient themselves in depth.

Move your head or screen up and down and you will perceive movement.

All the lines in the checkerboard are actually straight.

Blue dots appear between the squares.

Keven Van Aelst

Justin Fantl — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:10:23 +0000

Kevin Van Aelst is one my favorite conceptual still life photographers. His work is witty, graphic, subtle, clever, and always gives you pause as there is usually more to the story than you glean at first glance. I must recognize his work as an important contemporary influence to my own. I feel as if I share a similar aesthetic when it comes to still-life. I am not sure what you would call that aesthetic and I welcome any suggestions. Maybe Kevin knows. . . Kevin?