During this past weekend’s 2009 NY Photo Festival, DUMBO was, wonderfully, once again taken over by all things photo for five days. One down-under gallery, however, is continuing the celebration, and taking things personally.
Set on the second floor of the Front Street Arts Building, through an orange door, up the stairs and to the left, the Randall Scott Gallery is one of many galleries in the building, and just one of many more galleries to welcome photo enthusiasts and practitioners during the week’s festivities.
At the request of gallery owner Randall Scott,  six photographers (each represented by Vaughan Hannigan) were asked to step back from their normal commercial work to share more personal projects, for a show entitled, of course, “Personal.” The result is a small but potent exhibit that reminds us of the magic kept up photographers’ sleeves, and the potential losses that occur by limiting artists to any one genre.
The twenty images ultimately selected are diverse – from Martin Schoeller’s raw, close-up portraits of a man and woman from the Piraha tribe in Brazil’s rain forest to Henry Leutwyler’s series of objects studies associated with iconic individuals, to Timothy Hogan’s pair of burnt fashion photos to Brad Harris’s “Swimming Hole†series, Mark Zibert’s sexy “Woman in Oil†or Giles Revell’s archival pigment insects  (“Scarab†and “Damsel Flyâ€). But throughout, the personal thread is clear, and the sum total a success.
Schoeller, who has been a New Yorker contributor for many years and at one time worked as an assistant to Annie Leibovitz (this influence is clear in some of his elaborate settings), is probably best known for his extreme close-up portraits of celebrities and politicians. And though the subjects here are far less recognizable than Barack Obama, Angelina Jolie or Jack Nicholson, it’s a testament to Schoeller’s eye that regardless of our familiarity, his intimate portraits consistently elicit that same human truth through their rawness, in exposed facial crevices and unflinching eyes.
Photos from Leutwyler’s ongoing “Artifacts†series – Hendrix’s guitar, Michael Jackson’s bedazzled glove, the gun that shot Lennon (aptly named “The Day the Music Diedâ€) and Elvis’s television, complete with bullet hole – demonstrate the object’s potential for power and drama, and just how much life and energy a story or persona can imbue.
Timothy Hogan, known for high-end commercial work, literally set fire to the assignment, at the suggestion of Mr. Scott. Slowly burning a Dolce & Gabbana dress shirt and Bally loafers, with his camera set on a timer, Hogan captured the evolution of fashion on fire. Shots of the two fabric remains hang on the gallery’s wall; a screen near the sitting area reveals a revolving series of photos that document the burn from start to finish.
Harris’s “Swimming Hole†set recalls any-town America, and the magic of adolescents set free, with portraits of teens climbing trees above the water, sharing a cigarette on the water’s edge, and individual portraits that reveal his subject’s simultaneous maturity and childishness.
One of the beauties of art – and photography, specifically – is the empathy a piece can evoke in the viewer, the response one’s work can elicit from another, that human element that connects us. In this way, “Personal†hits home. And thankfully, though the NYPH09 festival’s parties are over, this one runs through June 6th, .
For more info, check out www.randallscottgallery.com.
Images courtesy of Randall Scott Gallery.