Redbrick Gallery

Artist: C. Mason

Take a Picture,  It Will Last Longer

Opening Reception: Saturday, July 10 from 2-5 pm  

Exhibit continues through August 14, 2010  

For nearly a decade C. Mason has explored life both internally and externally through the medium of analog black and white photography. The collection of works entitled “Take A Picture, It will Last Longer” are pictures of time and place, studies of light and darkness, and personal reflections sent as emotive messages.   

As proof of changes we and our environment undergo, these images illustrate the impermanence of what is… Nostalgic and melancholy feelings often overtake the artist while capturing the character of studied subjects–residential and industrial structures awaiting their fate, landscapes as summary of nature, and cultural ephemera serving past era’s. Many of the images are all that seemingly remain, i.e., the transitions’ effect wiping away history. Recognizing inherent value and quality of bygone times inspires C. Mason. Resulting images made last not only as a mere record of things as they are but what the photographer leads the viewer to perceive.  

Decisions as to what type of ambient lighting is ideal to express the artist’s intent, what is to be most emphasized within the limited frame, and how the latent silver’s magic should best be manipulated to create a specific aesthetic, are all part of this photographer’s process. Overall, darkness is more interesting than the highlights to the artist; relationships of each are thoroughly considered before the shutter is released. By using risky exposures, and “push-developing” techniques, C. Mason offers to gallery goers unique interpretations of vision.  

A lifetime of transition–value systems, residences, and experiences–fuels the photographer’s personal lexicon of sometimes obvious, oftentimes subtle symbolism. Fanning this internal dialog is the artists’ sense of wonderment and the cognition of the minute details–not only what has transpired, yet alternately what life has to offer. Images in the series “Take A Picture. It Will Last Longer” are archived and tangible records of what intrigued a photographer locally (WV Panhandle) and creatively, in a search for roots and grounding within what we call home.  

Selected Works:    

  

  

 

  

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