Spring 2018, Volume 24

From the Art Editor

In a world with plenty of photography that seems to document little more than the ease of smartphone button clicking, Roger Camp’s images grab and hold my attention. They make people uncanny again. They help me to be more open-minded about some of the big questions that are never done being answered. Why do we represent ourselves first one way, then another? Why can we never be done with our search in the mirror? His images are thankfully quiet rather than shout-y, inviting rather than overpowering. 

I see in William Crawford’s images a will to document his urban environment that feels both familiar and enigmatic, even as he uses photography in a way which is both traditional and contemporary, even personal. He pictures what catches his eye but without returning to photography’s naturalistic roots, its early claim to be Truth for the viewers who couldn’t be there to see for themselves. Rather, in a media world now characterized by unrepentant knee-jerk rants and banality raised up as a virtue, I experience William Crawford's jacked-up tonal contrasts, color palettes and visual textures as an authentic and humble warning to the viewer: artist at work, enjoy another person’s point of view, but especially if you’re moved by the images, don’t just re-post or Like them; use them to jack-up your own looking, your own critical focus.

 

                                                                                     — Jack Miller