Head on over to instagram.com/alexchemerphoto for new shots and old favorites! Also please check out our new Society6 page, shared with my wife Yelena and daughter Yanika (both visual artists): society6.com/artbythechemerisovs
Part birthday celebration, part photo exhibit, Alex's latest show was a fun evening with loved ones. We had been curious as to how the digital slideshows would be received, and it seemed that all the guests had stopped to view both screens, commenting on the beauty of the photos, and generally enjoying the novelty of images on a screen. Perhaps it's not that novel, but for Alex, it was the first time sharing his work in such a way, and overall, we agreed that the format is aesthetically functional to do again. Thank you to our beautiful friend Jenssy Lavezzi for the photos!
We are very excited for Alex's birthday show at Elderberries Cafe in Hollywood, which will be up for the entire month of July. For the reception, we are trying out two screens of digital slideshows in addition to hanging framed prints. The prints will remain for the month, along with one of the screens.
Stay tuned for our notes on how the slideshows were received (in terms of displaying photos in a format other than the usual). There is a different perception of the image when it is viewed temporarily, and then fades into another... We are interested to see what effect this quality has on the viewer, and how the image carries its essence within an over-flowing succession. We had seen photos presented on screens at a National Geographic exhibit a few years back, and of course realized that such a method has been widely used for a while now - but this will be the first time that Alex will be showing his pieces in such a way. For many of his abstract and nature scenes, we think it will look stunning; as well as for his street photography, portraiture, and shots of Paris. A photographer's vision is unique to his frame of mind, his heart, his spirit. Alex watches the world around him with a curious eye and a deep love for not only beauty, but also for the exploration of why and how something exists. Be it a stranger on the street who becomes less of a stranger after we look into their eyes, or a tangled dance of tree branches spiraling between light and shadow - Alex seeks the essence; the elegant and often intangible core of capturing life and its innumerable moments. New in the “On The Street” section of the Portfolio, over 200 images of anonymous faces, captured mostly throughout Los Angeles over the last couple years. The idea is - would a person be flattered, or bothered in some way - to find a moment of themselves, captured by a photographer, quietly and often unnoticed? Can that person ever be found again, in a crowd, or through the web?
As Alex’s daughter, running this site and uploading his creative work, I usually shy away from posting portraits of anonymous people, except for the limited collection in the street photography section. Suddenly I felt compelled to share more of them, unabashedly and unapologetically. And to see whether there is a response. Perhaps someone will come across their own face online one day, perhaps they will feel confused in trying to recall when and where they were when the image was taken. For that is what it is - the taking of an image. The taking of a photo. Or perhaps they might feel mortified, not at all liking the way they “look.” Or that their photo was taken at an inopportune time, by a stranger, capturing them perhaps in a serious frown, or with a look of "why are you taking my picture?" - ending up, paradoxically, with a piercing, direct stare right into the camera lens. In candid photographs such as these, we can sometimes see into a person's soul. The hope is, that in the seeing, we can find more connection and compassion. For we are all human wanderers here on Earth. From city to forest to desert to sea… we must see each other. We must try harder to understand that it’s ok when we are different, and that it’s necessary to strengthen ourselves by uniting in our diversity. My father photographs people on the street because he sees them. Whether caught in a “good-looking” moment or otherwise, he imagines that their essence will be captured for the benefit of something, even if just for a moment. That it will live, and tell of what it lived. A few of Alex's favorite images are available through Lark Gallery Online, a great collective of international artists. |
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