Photo LA.2016 Celebrates its
25th Anniversary
at the
REEF * LA Mart
Photo Journal by Ginger Van
Hook
Twenty
Five Years at the center of the eye of the camera’s lens is quite something to
celebrate as PHOTO LA 2016 launched it’s VIP event on Thursday, January 21st,
to throngs of celebrity photographers, artists, collectors and art aficionados;
but the real mark of a spectacular photo-gravy extravaganza is the crowd that
accumulates late into a Sunday afternoon, the last day of the event, when most
folks are expected to run home to catch the tail end of a football game, there
were still cars packed in the parking lot and the elevators were full of
incoming photography enthusiasts!
Taking a stroll against the far wall I came across the show “Round Hole, Square Peg Wall of Fame” curated by Phil Tarley. In so far as the landscape of gender issues is concerned, Tarley has succeeded in addressing an important issue at hand with this exhibition, namely the lack of diversity in the field of photography that celebrates human sexuality and its diverse culture in our present day and age. Presenting a new perspective on the LGBTQ art community, Phil Tarley noted that the ruling of the Supreme Court in favor of same-sex marriage was fostering a wellspring of acceptance in the trans-gender community and Phil Tarley wanted to capture just that sense of spirituality in the photographs and photographers he featured on his Wall of Fame. A few of the artists displaying their works included Mei Xian Qui, who’s elegant images of romantic sensuality explore the same sex love in the most restrictive of cultures, as well as Josef Jasso, Michael Palladino, Brooke Mason and Franz Szony. Franz Szony is the artist exhibiting the image that stood out as a title piece, one of the largest of the images exhibited above eye level, almost to the ceiling appropriately placed in a high position at the top of the corner of the aisle. The image portrayed a scene of flying birds, butterflies and winged creatures with a soft focus on the erotic naked back of the body of a female, with the juxtaposition of the face of a male, the hands of a man, but the contradicting slender fingernails of a woman, smiling, long silky purple hair flowing, surrounded by colorful parrots, cockatoos and even a translucent bat, hanging upside down while the elegant cross-gender subject sits on a long bar, suspended in what appears to be in the heavens, much like a mythological creature. The ARTIST CORNER GALLERY commanded the entire end of that aisle as there were not one, not two, but three shows simultaneously exhibiting artwork that demonstrated a great deal of new work with subjects that graced the edges of taboo. In particular for those with any degree of shyness, the images cultivated a blushing response, and yet, the celebration of the diversity of human sexuality was finally out in the open. With this new freedom of expression taking on center stage, at PHOTO LA, I moved along observing that the status quo in photography had finally been shaken up a notch or two, by Phil Tarley.
My journey seeking original photography processes continued and a couple of aisles down, I was immediately aroused by the splendor of brilliant abstract digital renderings the like, I had not been attracted to before. The works of Tom Wheeler and Donn Delson stopped me in mid-stride. “A Study of Light Amplification” had me captivated by the sharpness of the color schemes. The raw amplification of the saturation button on a photo-shop application came to mind with the digital prints by Donn Delson. His work was as eerie as it was attractive in a vortex of black space, something akin to the surprise of color in the darkness of outer space! The prints of Tom Wheeler had a unique color blended quality as well. Wheeler’s work had surreal landscapes that mimicked reality, and yet portended another plane of fictional space. Both these artists may be found at the TAG GALLERY in Santa Monica, California.
My relationship with images on the wall was not my only interaction with the celebration of photography at PHOTO LA 2016 this weekend. I had gathered to meet up with a few of my contemporaries; artists, photographers and curators that enjoyed some of my similar interests, Gina Genis, Karrie Ross and Mallory Cremin joined me for lunch and a walk through the emergence of new styles of photography, explorations of time-lapse imagery, and the introductions to talent that had long been percolating new works, overflowing with passion. One of these introductions was with Norman Kulkin who really turned photos upside down…literally…Mr. Kulkin exhibited the backs of all old photos, black and white, all of the backs, together on one plane. It was a gorgeous abstraction and reverence to what is really on the “other” side! 
And later, I was also privileged to meet Artist Juri Kroll, and Jay Mark Johnson whose photography works utilized a scanner function to absorb the entire image in a scene and create the illusion of rushing colors on a canvas. His world-renown photography was closer to the renderings of paintings, but the process implemented still used the mechanics and technology of the camera lens!
Finally, late on a Sunday afternoon, there were mysteries found, within PHOTO LA 2016, that captivated my attention in another way. I wanted very much to peruse the book, “FOUND: THE LOST PHOTOS OF THE ROLLING STONES” and I took a peak into the presentation “Backstage Pass with Music Photographer Rob Shanahan”. The programming presented during PHOTO LA 2016 in these last four days was exceptional. The participation by The J. Paul Getty Museum’s Department of Photographs at the Exhibitions took audiences on Docent tours that featured the photography in all walks of life, including the Journalistic Photography of the Press, the emerging photography of the local schools of photography in our California Southland, which by the way, included my Alma Mater, Otis College of Art and Design, and some of the most interesting speakers in our art communities gave Artist Talks each day as PHOTO LA 2016 did not hold back in the excellence of their programming celebrating 25 years of photographic appreciation!
My journey seeking original photography processes continued and a couple of aisles down, I was immediately aroused by the splendor of brilliant abstract digital renderings the like, I had not been attracted to before. The works of Tom Wheeler and Donn Delson stopped me in mid-stride. “A Study of Light Amplification” had me captivated by the sharpness of the color schemes. The raw amplification of the saturation button on a photo-shop application came to mind with the digital prints by Donn Delson. His work was as eerie as it was attractive in a vortex of black space, something akin to the surprise of color in the darkness of outer space! The prints of Tom Wheeler had a unique color blended quality as well. Wheeler’s work had surreal landscapes that mimicked reality, and yet portended another plane of fictional space. Both these artists may be found at the TAG GALLERY in Santa Monica, California.
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