Process BookArtist Identity project

Allison Barnes by Caio Logato

About the artistAllison Barnes / Interview

1) How would you describe your process when working on a project?

I like to think that my process is rather intuitive. Shooting with a large format 8x10 camera requires me to slow down and to really see. I travel near and far to make photographs, but I leave for weeks at a time. This allows me to be fully present with my subject matter. When I am living in my work, I feel more open to possibility and I take in so much more than when I am on a day or weekend trip. Learning about the landscape – what it is made of, who lives there, etc. is a crucial part of my work, and the only way to real-ly learn those things is by eating, sleeping and walking the land.I work mostly in landscape, and I find it interesting that my camera has as much of a presence as I do. And when I am making self-portraits, it is as though I am looking at the cam-era looking back at me. I enjoy the symbiotic relationship that I have with my tool – I want my final outcomes to be products of my own way of seeing 2) Could you tell me 10 words that you think could describe your work, or you as a professional?

1. quiet2. intuitive3. encounters4. autiobigraphical5. geological6. American (the landscape and myself)7. contact8. isolated9. determined10. methodic 3) What inspires you? What amuses you? Why did you choose art and photography?

I grew up in an extremely rural area and had an assortment of agriculture all around me. Our formative years are im-portant to how we view the landscape, and for me it is the cornfields, mountains, and old farmhouses that inspire me and that I still visit today when I get the chance. The con-nection I have to my childhood home is strong – the image Homestead 1991, Port Murray, NJ is a family portrait. I had the chance to visit the house I grew up in for the first time in sixteen years, and what I came across were the impressions

that my family left behind. It is this land that informs my way of working.

Though I may always be rooted to the rural landscape, I find inspiration in the west as well, where a majority of my recent work was made. I seek out traces and marks that tell a history, and there is so much to be found in the American Southwest.

It is in the desert where the history of our native ances-tors is under the full blaze of the sun. I am inspired by the usage of land and how humans interact and connect with it. I am always thinking about how space gets transformed into “place,” which is by the attachments we form based on the experiences we have in certain locations.

I never disregard the work of my predecessors – the great photographers who traveled west to uncover the mysteries of that enormous space. I find it fascinating that artists are still exploring these regions and gathering inspiration. In visiting the desert for three years, I always seemed to have new eyes. In this land I am inspired by the slow change over time, both within geology and civilization. The history of story telling is fascinating, and I often seek inspiration from many forms of narration, whether it is photographs or music. The history of the landscape in photography is always somewhere in the back of my head. Knowing what came before you and how your own work plays a role within your medium is cru-cial.

I choose photography because of its ability to both transform and mimic my perception – the ability it gives me to share the point of contact I had. The 8x10 ground glass is a win-dow, and I look through it in the same way I saw the world through the window of that Homestead house. When I look at other artist’s photographs I really believe that they saw what their camera captured, and I am often stunned by the dreams and nightmares that truly exist.

4) Can you get a clear picture of your work improvement? How would you describe that personal growth, and has SCAD helped you with that?

I work rather methodically, that has never changed. I make decisions very slowly, but I have gotten stronger at commit-ting to a photograph. There is no reason to second-guess a

picture. I now fully embrace the potential an image has. Even if I’m not sure what something will look like photographed, I make the picture anyway. When I travel, I must make the photograph when I see it because there is no turning back.

I have to say that the most important thing that SCAD has provided me is their amazing professors. My work and con-cepts would not be where they are today if it weren’t for the connections that I have made specific individuals. Being able to fully express your ideas and comfortably share work is a crucial part of succeeding in a homogeneous community.

5) Where do you see your work going? Where do you want to take it? Who’s your audience?

I am going to continue on my own re-working of the land-scape and just keep building and creating. Ideally, I would like to show this work in a gallery or other appropriate set-ting. Since my work depicts types of histories – art, ancient, Native American, etc., a museum would function as a suit-able location as well. Nationally, I can think of many spaces I would like to exhibit my work, but locally would be nice as well. Savannah doesn’t offer many options for exhibition space, but the Historical Society and Georgia Science Center may be alternative routes for me to take.

My audience is artists, historians, scientists, writers, etc 6) Could you give me a brief Record of your work / resume / CV?

See attached.

7) What brought you into photography?

My father gave me my first Minolta 35mm camera when I was 15 and he fed my ever-growing interest in image making, specif-ically in black and white. Though, I didn’t know much about the medium’s history until I went to college for it, I just made photo-graphs that I liked. My father would take me out of high school to go to museums in New York and Philadelphia, so I was exposed to many other forms of art as well.

However, the day I became a photographer was the day I made a photograph in response to a poem entitled, Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle Received from a Friend Called Felicity, by John Tobias. Even though I was halfway through college and

About the artistInterview

I had been making pictures for years before, the self-portrait I made on this day was the beginning of my own unique way of working, one that I still reflect on today. This photograph was the start of a love affair with both the landscape and self-portraits.

8) What’s the message you try to send?

From within my work or my daily mantra? I guess either way the message is similar. I take the pictures I take because I can live the life I want to be living while still creating work that is mean-ingful to me. I hope this inspires others to do the same. 9) And a more deep question, who are you? (Past/Roots) | What brought you to SCAD?

Well, I think some of my previous answers give some insight to who I am. After leaving the country to live in Brooklyn, NY for a substantial amount of time, I decided that it was time for a change, both in my work and my surroundings. I wanted to live within or closer to the type of landscape I was interested in. For me, Savannah is a perfect location because of position it puts me in to explore many areas of the country. I can visit rural land – it is right outside of downtown Savannah – As for SCAD, what drew me was it’s facilities and that the photography department still had a focus on darkroom photography. Many programs are removing their darkrooms, but SCAD still supplies state of the art wet darkrooms.

I grew up in an extremely rural area and had an assortment of agriculture all around me. Our formative years are im-portant to how we view the landscape, and for me it is the cornfields, mountains, and old farmhouses that inspire me and that I still visit today when I get the chance. The con-nection I have to my childhood home is strong – the image Homestead 1991, Port Murray, NJ is a family portrait. I had the chance to visit the house I grew up in for the first time in sixteen years, and what I came across were the impressions that my family left behind. It is this land that informs my way of working.

My father gave me my first Minolta 35mm camera when I was 15 and he fed my ever-growing interest in image making, specif-ically in black and white. Though, I didn’t know much about the medium’s history until I went to college for it, I just made photo-

graphs that I liked. My father would take me out of high school to go to museums in New York and Philadelphia, so I was exposed to many other forms of art as well.

However, the day I became a photographer was the day I made a photograph in response to a poem entitled, Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle Received from a Friend Called Felicity, by John Tobias. Even though I was halfway through college and I had been making pictures for years before, the self-portrait I made on this day was the beginning of my own unique way of working, one that I still reflect on today. This photograph was the start of a love affair with both the landscape and self-portraits.

About the artistAllison Barnes

Logo StudiesVisual research - clichés

Logo StudiesInitial sketches

Logo StudiesInitial sketches

Logo StudiesInitial sketches

Logo StudiesInitial sketches

Logo StudiesRoughs

ALLISON BARNES ALLISON BARNES

Logo StudiesType studies

ITC Avant Garde

Bodoni

Centaur

Mrs. Eaves

DIN 1451 Std

ALLISON BARNES

ALLISON BARNES

ALLISON BARNES

ALLISON BARNES

A L L I S O N BA R N E S

Logo StudiesFinal

ExhibitionIdeation for concept

ExhibitionIdeation for concept

ExhibitionGallery Map

Sure-footed by Allison Barnes

Exposition Map - Oglethorpe Gallery

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New Jersey

Sure-footedvinyl wall

About Allison

Sign-bookand gifts(post-cards+ catalogues)

South Dakota

Arizona

Utah

New Mexico

Georgia

Florida

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Anthropod Mating Encounter, Delaware Bay, New Jersey

Deer Head by Homestead As Leaves Turn up to Rain, Port Murray, New Jersey

Homestead 1991, Port Murray, New Jersey

Small Pound with Runoff, Cumberland County, New Jersey

American Bison Encounter, Badlands, South Dakota

A Triassic Display; Crystal, Slate, Petrified Wood, Apache, Arizona

Palimpsest; Saguaro Cactus, Tucson, Arizona

Hands in Salt Deposits, Zion, Utah

Palimpsest; 12 AD to 1954, San Juan County, Utah

F. Gilmer Breckinridge Was Here, 1859, El Morro

Buffalo Courds, Raw Material, Mountainaire, New Mexico

Racoon Hands, Skidaway Island, Georgia

Louisie's Fur, Savannah, Georgia

Matted Cotton, Raw Material, Blountstown, Florida

Turtle Shell During Tornado Watch, Everglades, Florida

Searching for the Dead Lakes, Wewahitchka, Florida

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ExhibitionWall graphics

Sure-footedby Allison Barnes

sure-foot·ed or sure·foot·edadj

1. unlikely to fall, slip, or stumble

2. not liable to error in judgment or action;

ExhibitionWall graphics

ExhibitionWall graphics

ExhibitionWall graphics

ExhibitionWall graphics | Tag

2,5 x 2 in

Post-cardsRoughs

Post-cardsFinals

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PosterRoughs

December 21stJanuary 5th

Oglethorpe Gallery406 East Oglethorpe Avenue

December 21stJanuary 5th

Oglethorpe Gallery406 East Oglethorpe Avenue

PosterRoughs + Final

CatalogueSketches

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CatalogueFinal

CatalogueFinal layout

CatalogueFinal layout

CatalogueFinal layout

CatalogueFinal layout

CataloguePhotos

Business CardRoughs

Business CardFinal

Thank You