A Quiet Conversation
Photographs by Mark Mitchell
LightBox Photo Lab Online Show
Dundee, Illinois
2000-2005

One way to view a photograph is as a slow, quiet conversation. Every day we encounter imagery in magazines or billboards that is not conversational. These commercial images have loud, serious voices. One characteristic of true conversation is a certain light-heartedness and give-and-take. So, I'm attracted to these qualities in art. Fine art photographs should be willing to listen. They don't have to be right. Also implied is a level of intimacy, of closeness. The subjects in this collection are within earshot—many within a few feet or less.

Have you ever stared out the window through a venetian blind, and then quickly refocused on something else and glimpsed a ghost of those horizontal lines? Some of these photographs are hopefully a means of staying with those kind of fleeting experiences—of reminding you of your own imaginative way of seeing the world.

A photographer friend once said: Wouldn't it be nice to take pictures of almost nothing. Some of these images were inspired by his example.

It's too easy to surround ourselves with the idea that beauty is "over there" somewhere. Certain strands within the history of photography bear this out. Early portraits were highly manipulated, posed, and adorned. Landscapes were grand and majestic. Still lifes were of the extraordinary. Gradually a broader spectrum of the so called "every day" became the subject of artists such as Harry Callahan, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, and James Baker Hall. What such art seems to be saying in it's slow, quiet conversation with us is this: Relax... beauty is right here—just waiting to be discovered."

Contact Information: Tel: (630) 584-7723
Email: mark@newsfromnowhere.com