Contents:
Exhibition Overview
Artist Bios
Reading List

Overview: f/1.4 The Changing Face of Contemporary Photography

Darin White, Stefan A. Rose, and Stephen Orlando

Curated by Suzanne Luke, Robert Langen Art Gallery, Wilfrid Laurier University

Sept. 19, 2016 - Aug. 5, 2017
Wilfrid Laurier University Library, 5th Floor, 75 University Ave. West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5
Daily, hours vary. No Admission Fee
Opening Reception (artists present) on Thursday Oct. 20, 7-9pm For directions & hours go to library.wlu.ca/lift

Curator's Statement: Photography has endured an interesting history, first being connected to science, then struggling to be recognized as a fine art discipline. Now, with the arrival of the digital age, the concept of what a photograph is or can be is changing once again. Throughout its evolution, the medium's natural fluidity has allowed for its ideological boundaries to be challenged and redefined. f/1.4 features three local artists who explore the landscape of contemporary photography in very diverse creative and technical manners to ask much wider societal questions. The narratives presented in each body of work invite viewers to re-evaluate their understanding of the meaning and function of the world around us. Together these artists communicate the nature of the photographic – focusing on the making of the image, rather than the taking of a photograph.

Artist's Statement - Darin White: I try to keep my feet on the streets of Waterloo Region. I try to pay close attention. Slow attention. My friend Stefan Rose called it “sustained attention.” And I photograph what I see to better understand the world. Of particular interest are the in-between shots when I’m traveling to or coming from somewhere. The world presents these surreal images rooted in the ordinary. I think of them as my B-sides. My misfits. And to me they are terribly interesting.

Artist's Statement - Stefan A. Rose: My black-and-white photographic work is informed by an interest in vernacular architecture, constructed identity and the shaping of rural and urban environments. I use a large-format 8 x 20 inch panoramic view camera because the film’s extreme detail and smooth tonal gradations offer a sensuous expansive visual experience. Twin Cities is a long-term view of dramatic changes to Kitchener-Waterloo’s built landscape as industry departs the inner core and century homes also fall under the wrecking ball and high-tech workers’ condominiums replace them. In this exhibition there are fifteen prints - three prints each of five sites.

Artist's Statement - Stephen Orlando: Capturing the visualization of light and sound are key elements to the development of my photographic body of work. Working in collaboration with paddlers and rowers, I attempt to visually narrate the graceful harmonic movements associated with their sport. LED lights attached directly to the paddles and oars, combined with long exposure times allow for an intriguing perspective on the concepts of space and time.

Lift is a community outreach program which highlights the creative talents of artists from the Region of Waterloo. Works are exhibited on floors 4-6 of Laurier’s Waterloo campus Library.

Artist Bios:

Darin White studied fine art and computer science, graduating from the University of Guelph. He grew up on the shore of Lake Huron in Point Edward, Ontario and comes from a family of very keen photographers. As a twenty-year resident of Waterloo, White has contributed to the community through efforts in the maker movement and local creative ecosystem by documenting those domains in a photo-journalistic approach on his blog, makebright.com. White is slightly uncomfortable with the term “artist” and self-identifies as a maker, often designing and fabricating his own gear to support his photographic pursuits.

Stefan A. Rose is a photographer, poet and video artist, exploring psychogeographic themes using analog and digital formats. Five of his video artworks were commissioned by the Penderecki String Quartet to accompany performances in Canada and internationally. Anchorage Press published his poetry chapbook The House That Stands, winning a 2008 Alcuin Society Canadian Book Design Award. He was 2010 City of Kitchener Artist In Residence and lives in Waterloo, Ontario with his wife, artist Laura De Decker. www.stefanrose.ca

Stephen Orlando is a photographer and aerodynamics engineer in Waterloo. He combines his love of paddling and the outdoors with his technical knowledge to create intriguing photographs that tell the story of movement. All of Stephen’s photos are single exposures. Stephen’s work has been exhibited in Italy, Korea, Taiwan, and Canada.

Reading List, curated by Suzanne Luke:

BOOKS

· Barnum, B. (2015). The essence of photography: seeing and creativity. Santa Barbara, CA : Rocky Nook [TR 154 .B37]

· Kunard, A. & Payne, C. (2011). The cultural work of photography in Canada. Montreal, QC : McGill-Queen’s University Press [online]

· Marsh, A. (2015). The culture of photography in public space. Bristol, UK: Intellect Books [TR 183 .C858]

· Noguchi, L. & Luke, S. (1999). Compilation portraits. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University, Robert Langen Gallery [Laurier Archive]

· Pietropaolo, V. (2000). Celebration of Resistance: Ontario’s Days of Action. Toronto, ON: Between The Lines [online]

· Pietropaolo, V. (2009). Harvest pilgrims: Mexican and Caribbean migrant farm workers in Canada. Toronto, ON: Between The Lines [HD 1529. P54]

· Roberts, J. (2015). Photography and its violations. New York, NY: Columbia University Press [TR 183 .R6E24]

· Zuromskis, C. (2013). Snapshot photography: The lives of images. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press [TR 183 .Z87]

· Ice storm, Ontario 2013: The beauty, the devastation, the aftermath. (2015). Toronto, ON: ECW Press. [Online]

· Lerner, L. (2009). Depicting Canada’s children (Studies in childhood and family in Canada). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. [N7640 .D46]

· Bain, R. (1996). Images of Waterloo County. Kingston, ON: Quarry Press. [Laurier Archives]

· History of Photography, Routledge [online]

· Photographies, Routlege [online]

· Personal Studio fonds. A photography studio (1949-1996) owned and operated by Robert Nicol in Waterloo

· Wilfrid Laurier University photograph collection

Links:

Click on image below to launch the full f/1.4 PDF brochure (opens in new window 2Mb PDF)

Click on image below to launch a newspaper article about my work, by Luisa D'Amato, in the Saturday August 5th, 2017 issue of the Waterloo Region Record daily newspaper (opens in new window)



Click on image below to launch the audio interview on 570 News radio's the Mike Farwell Show, of Mike talking with me about my work, on Wednesday August 9th, 2017 (opens in new window) (skip ahead to minute 21:50)



Or if the page doesn't display well, launch the audio interview directly from the Mike Farwell Show podcast download link (20Mb, skip ahead to minute 21:50)