Urban Enclaves

Gallery 14 contrasts the Japanese railway images of Jim Hilgendorf with found street art of Coleen Marks.

By: Ilene Dube

Images by Jim Hilgendorf from the series The 29 Stations of the Yamanote Line – "Yoyogi." The names of the photographs are taken from the station names.

   Photographer Jim Hilgendorf is the first to admit that train stations are not inherently beautiful. The challenge he set for himself was to find the beauty in the 29 stations of the Yamanote Line encircling Tokyo.
   His eye was captivated by the undulating curves of the steel rails, the vertical strength of the columns and the high speed of the bullet trains — up to 300 kilometers per hour, much faster than the Acela Express. "What drew me to the stations are the lines you find and the buildings overhead," says the New Hope, Pa., resident. His urban work in progress, The 29 Stations of the Yamanote Line, is on view at Gallery 14 in Hopewell, along with Windows and Walls, classic street photography by Coleen Marks, through July 18.
   Mr. Hilgendorf, who formerly worked in finance for the Exxon corporation, had spent the last 20 or so years of his career living abroad, primarily in Asia. He was introduced to the work of Japanese woodblock artist Ando Hiroshige, documenting the roads between Tokyo and Kyoto in his series, Fifty-Three Stages of the Tokaido and The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido.

"Tokyo"

   It took 25 years for the idea to incubate. Inspired by the "ennobling of the mundane scenes of each stage of travel on these roads," Mr. Hilgendorf was attracted by Yamanote Line, with its modern, circular overhead rail conveying passengers, like tiny dots, through the sprawling center of Tokyo.
   In addition to the 29 photographs — one of each of the stations — Mr. Hilgendorf has put together a booklet of fascinating facts about the rail line, including a map, that itself is worth a trip to Gallery 14. "I’m not a railroad buff," insists the photographer.
   Translated literally, Yamanote means "mountain-hand," and, according to Mr. Hilgendorf’s pamphlet, in many Japanese cities it is used to refer to inland hillier districts. The trains run from 4:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., taking about 65 minutes to circle Tokyo. Each train has 11 cars, including a "cattle wagon" in which bench seats fold back for standing room only during morning rush hour.
   Some of the more interesting stations include Shimbashi, one of Japan’s oldest stations, in a large business area near the Tsukiji Fish Market and Hama Rikyu Gardens; and Ebisu, named for a popular Japanese beer. The brewery, originally part of Sapporo Beer Co., was located there and the train station constructed to help distribute the brew. The town has since been named Ebisu, although the brewery moved away in 1988. Ebisu also is known for its large concentration of ramen shops.

"Fence, New Orleans" by Coleen Marks

   Mr. Hilgendorf, who has studied photography at the New York Institute of Photography and the International Center of Photography in New York, has been working on 29 Stations since 2001, while still living in Tokyo. He has returned to Japan since his retirement to take more pictures, and plans to continue shooting. He wants to incorporate more people into the pictures of stations.
   "My primary objective is, through photography, to portray individuals that reveal something about themselves," he says in his artist’s statement. "This could be a particular strength of character, a confidence in what they are doing, an obvious love for another, a time of reflection or just a simple delight of the moment." To this end, Mr. Hilgendorf uses a large-format camera with film and does his own processing and printing. The prints are silver gelatin on oriental paper, toned with selenium. "These prints will last forever," he says. With retirement, he hopes to use the digital printing process more.

"Torn Poster, N. Y." by Coleen Marks

   Some of the images at Gallery 14 do contain people: in "Yoyogi," we see a woman waiting for a train, completely in her own thoughts as she stares into space; in "Tokyo," a conductor gives the all-clear signal; in "Shinjiku," anonymous people crowd onto a platform; a female conductor with bright white gloves in "Ikeburo" holds a microphone to announce the trains. Young people in attention-getting clothes — a woman with a dark coat and dark lipstick, a girl with tiger-striped pants and a Playboy bunny T-shirt — crowd the busy entrance to the "Harajuku" station.
   During the time he lived in Japan, Mr. Hilgendorf noticed an increase in the homeless population. In "Shin — Okubo," we see an older woman in shabby clothing squatting alongside a shopping bag printed with the word "Harmony."
   "(The photographer) Bruce Davidson did a series on the subways," says Mr. Hilgendorf. "’The 32 New York Times’ ran an article showing a woman standing on a platform in Queens in the early 1970s. Then they went back and rephotographed her there. It reminds me that everything has been photographed one way or another."
   Coleen Marks, on the other hand, strives to make photographs out of quirky scenes others might not notice, such as decapitated doll heads mounted on top of a fence lit with Christmas lights in New Orleans, or a series of washbasins lined up against an ivy-covered brick walls. While Mr. Hilgendorf works exclusively in black and white, Ms. Marks prefers color. Her prints are made by Taylor Photo in West Windsor, but she, too, has plans to work more digitally. "I hate chemicals and being in the dark," she says to explain her avoidance of the darkroom.
   "I want to make (the observer) aware of how we humanize places in the city," she says of the works in Windows and Walls. "The city is mostly concrete and steel and ugly — we are perking it up with our own human decorations," says the Kendall Park resident. Ms. Marks developed her fondness for cities while growing up in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn.
   Ms. Marks had been a painter and a poet before finding photography in 1994. "I still write thoughts and ideas," she says. "Certain arts visit you at certain times and you get into that flow."
   Her prints in Windows and Walls are in editions of 25, and were taken in such cities as London, Amsterdam, New Orleans and New York. The aforementioned sinks against a brick wall were in Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island, S.C. As director of human resources for the Johnson Atelier in Hamilton, she has visited many sculpture gardens. Ms. Marks says she has learned to take her camera everywhere, even to the bathroom, because when you don’t have it, you miss out on extraordinary opportunities. These sinks are a case in point.
   Another time, on a visit to New York’s SoHo on a Sunday morning, she went into a coffee shop to use the ladies’ room. On her way out, she noticed the soft morning light pouring into the shop, highlighting the old metal chairs and tables. In the background, a man in the window reads the Sunday paper in "Soho Morning."
   Ms. Marks likes to find guerilla art. She found "Three Blind Mice" painted on a wall near Chinatown in Philadelphia. In "Torn Poster, N.Y.," she has found a painting of a nude on the wall. It has been painted over partially, and some other papers have been glued over it but the paper is now peeling away. "I liked all the pieces happening and the texture," she says.
   One haunting image of the New York skyline, complete with the World Trade Center towers, stands out. Called "Ice Window, Ellis Island," it was made in 1994. Ms. Marks had gone to see an exhibit of Adolf Konrad paintings there, and there had been an ice storm that day, causing the window to freeze up and distort. Looking out at the New York skyline through it is like looking through a cube of ice. The twin towers warp as if in a fun-house mirror.
   "The photo was in a show in northern New Jersey on Sept. 11, 2001," says Ms. Marks. "It seemed appropriate for this show because it’s a window shot. It’s very moving to me now."
   There are very few human figures in Windows and Walls. Ms. Marks, who names Andre Kertez and Eugene Atget as her influences, says she doesn’t like to take pictures of people because of the American Indian belief that "people who take your picture are stealing your soul."
   "It’s affected me profoundly," she says. Instead, her images show the human touch — "People interacting with the city and making it more interesting. Everything is found art. It’s simply there, and I run into it."
Windows and Walls and The 29 Stations of the Yamanote Line are on view at Gallery 14, 14 Mercer St., Hopewell, through July 18. Gallery hours: Sat.-Sun. noon-5 p.m. and by appointment. For information, call (609) 333-8511. On the Web: www.photosgallery14.com