Visual Symphony

The Phillips’ Mill Photographic Exhibition brings together a medley of formats, processes and styles.

By: Amy Brummer

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Alan Sockloff’s "Falls Creek #29" (above), winner of the Ernie Volpe Memorial Award, and "Panache" (left) by Amy Clemons, winner of the New Artist Award.

   "I have often said," wrote Ansel Adams in The Print,
"that the negative is similar to a musician’s score, and the print (is similar)
to the performance of that score."
   Using that analogy, Phillips’ Mill has become a grand concert
hall, booked with simultaneous acts harmonizing under one roof.
   On view through June 6, the 12th annual Phillips’ Mill Photographic
Exhibition at Phillips’ Mill in Solebury, Pa., presents an engaging variety
of contemporary work covering a wide range of formats and processes, as well
as style and subject matter.
   On one end of the spectrum is Linda Griffith’s "Land of the
Free," an inkjet print loaded with socio-political commentary that depicts a
person, American flags in hand, quarantined in a white, plastic-coated room.
At the other end, there is a series of serenely captivating floral images in
black-and-white, printed on handmade paper by Susan Abrams, which harks back
to the romanticism of late 19th century.
   Other intriguing pieces include Carolyn Strand’s "Rumtek Sikkim,"
a quilted kimono decorated with cyanotype images of Tibet, and Thomas Robert
Meyer’s psychologically charged Polaroid transfers, which are fractured images
rich with muted coral, turquoise and flesh tones, pieced together in mosaic
style.
   The 200 images in the show were chosen from nearly 900 submissions
by a jury of three photographers — Tinicum, Pa., resident Derek Fell, Roger
Matsumoto of Newark, Del., and Ken Kaplowitz of Pennington.
   Each judge brings a unique perspective to the judging process,
which is reflected in the diversity of the show. Mr. Fell is a color photographer
known for landscapes and gardens. Mr. Matsumoto, who specializes in classic
techniques such as palladium and salt printing, is the winner of last year’s
"Best of Show Award," and Mr. Kaplowitz, a professor of photography at The College
of New Jersey in Ewing, is a generalist with an eye toward art appreciation.
   "They are from all different places," says Alan Sockloff,
who has two works in the show. "But amongst them, they were able to select a
pretty broad group of works that I don’t think you would get from a single juror,
who has their own idea of what photography should be."
   Mr. Sockloff, a Langhorne, Pa., resident, is the winner of
the Ernie Volpe Memorial Award for his piece, "Falls Creek #29." The award,
which honors the late nature photographer, recognizes excellence in that genre.

Barn on Stump Road" by Randl Bye, winner, Inn at Phillips’ Mill Award.

   Using a 4-by-5-inch view camera, Mr. Sockloff spent roughly
a year returning to the falls, which are just south of Reigelsville, Pa., to create
a series of nearly 50 images. Another photograph from that series, "Falls Creek
#33" is also on view at Phillips’ Mill. Mr. Sockloff’s work has been accepted
into the show since he first entered in 1994, and over the course of a decade,
the exhibition has given him the opportunity to present his new works, whether
they be close-ups of junk in a scrap yard or the hauntingly beautiful coast of
Maine.
   "For one thing," he says, "I am a sucker for fabulous landscapes.
I love the effect of what light can do to landscapes. But I also enjoy abstraction,
and some of the work I have done with scrap metal or water patterns is about
form, but it is really the abstractions of form."
   A professor of psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia
until his retirement last year, Mr. Sockloff has been snapping pictures his
whole life, starting with a Kodak Pony 35 when he was a child. It wasn’t until
the early ’90s, when his children had grown, that he began taking classes in
black-and-white printing at Bucks County Community College, where he could take
advantage of the facilities.
   Eventually, he built a darkroom in his home and expanded his
education through a master print class with George Tice at the Maine Photographic
Workshops and an advanced large-format workshop with John Sexton at Anderson
Ranch Center.
   Mr. Sockloff’s work has been included in exhibits at the Pennsylvania
State Museum in Harrisburg, Prallsville Mills in Stockton, and the Abington
Art Center in Abington, Pa. In 2001, he was awarded a solo show from the Camera
Club of New York for winning first place in their annual juried show.
   His work in the Phillips’ Mill show reflects the years of
work dedicated to refining his vision to achieve specific results. "Falls Creek
#29" captures one of his favorite subjects — the force of the rushing water
— while highlighting the delicacy of the spray as it diffuses.
   "I don’t freeze motion," he says. "Typically when I do these
water pictures, I try to go on for about a quarter-second speed, but my eye
doesn’t see quarter-seconds, my eye sees the moment. But at that speed, you
can freeze the water and still get the sense that there is movement going on.
I love that kind of precision. I love knowing that the print contains everything,
that there are no spots that are pure white or pure black with no texture. I
like knowing that the whole range of shades of gray are covered."
   With a chemist for a father, Mr. Sockloff, who has taught
statistics, credits his exposure to scientific processes as a catalyst for his
exacting standards. But he also relishes the creative outlet of the medium,
which balances that rigorousness.

"Norris Geyser Basin" by Elena M. Bouvier, winner, Best Landscape, Newtown Camera Club.

   "There is also that other part of it," he says, "where you go
out looking for subjects and you begin seeing things differently. That is not
a statistics teacher photographing, it is the other side of my brain working."
   For Barbara Warren, that is a key point to creating good photographs.
A digital photographer with two works in the show, the Yardley, Pa., resident
recognizes the tendency of people who work with digital images to get too caught
up in the technical aspects of the process. But, she explains, no matter how
much you fool with it on the computer, the artistic voice needs to be heard
or the image will not resonate.
   Showing her images at Phillips’ Mill for the seventh year, Ms.
Warren’s work stands out for its crisp lines and masterful use of color. The two
photographs, "Cityscape 1" and "Cityscape 4," give the impression of a futuristic
skyline at dusk, with blue, brushed-steel buildings falling into shadow against
a metallic horizon.
   "I do a lot of close-ups," Ms. Warren says. "I love texture
and pattern, and I photograph a variety of things. This is a privately owned
sculpture, and I just happen to like how the light reflected on it. I took it
in the late afternoon. The metal is kind of silvery in color but the reflections
from the sky and the reflections from the sun gave it the gold and blue tint."
   From there, she manipulates the image on her computer to enhance
specific qualities. Since retiring from her position as a chemical engineer
for Rohm & Haas in Bristol two years ago, Ms. Warren has turned her expertise
to the graphics program Photoshop, which she has studied for 10 years, into
a new career. In addition to her own work, which has been shown at Ellarslie
in Trenton, the Philadelphia Sketch Club, the Abington Juried Show, and was
featured in Photographic Magazine (Feb. 2002), she creates custom prints
for other photographers, such as Chris Stadelmeier of Trenton, whose work hangs
next to hers at Phillips’ Mill.
   Ms. Warren say that while Photoshop is not a difficult program
to use on a basic level, it becomes exceedingly complex as the commands become
more specific. But this is exactly what sets custom prints apart from generic
ones. This knowledge gives her the ability to help photographers achieve their
vision by bringing out specific aspects of the negative.
   "Sometimes they want a high-key image," Ms. Warren says, "a
light image, a dark image or something very contrasty, or more subtle and painterly,
so I help them interpret their photographs and images the way they want. It
is kind of like the artist’s brush. There is a way you apply the tools to get
the maximum out of a picture, so it is more than just knowing the tools, it
is using the right techniques and knowing how to use them."
The Phillips’ Mill Photographic Exhibition is on view at Phillips’ Mill,
River Road, Solebury, Pa., through June 6. Hours: Sun.-Mon., Wed.-Thurs. 1-5
p.m., Fri.-Sat. 1-9 p.m. Free admission. For information, call (215) 396-9447.
On the Web: www.phillipsmill.org.
Barbara Warren on the Web: www.barbarawarren.com.
Alan Sockloff on the Web: www.alansockloffphotographer.com