Hot Shots : Beth Herzhaft
Artist Statement
It seems to me that my subject matter has always been the same: the mundane. I should stress, though, that it is always presented in an UN-IRONIC way. While there most certainly is subtle humor in my work, it is not a visual "one liner"....
I am currently working on a series I call "area photography", an evolving compendium of contemporary landscapes / still life images.
The subject matter I gravitate toward is unspectacular, and the images are a mischievous reaction to "epic" photography. The ambivalence I feel regarding the "monumental" or "significant" in art creates a tension between meaning and meaninglessness that is expressed in this work.
This series is an exploration of the ephemeral, the peripheral. Questions are not answered; the story is implied but never spelled out. My choice of subject and the way I present it highlights incompleteness as the condition of everyday life. In area photography there is no "decisive moment": what is captured is a comma rather than an exclamation point.
I work in found situations, seeking out unspecific locales. Others may see fit to "de-ordinarize" their imagery, engineering it to produce an unfamiliar or fantastical effect. I reject this convention.
The aesthetic behind area photography is ancient. It is in the overlooked and the rejected, in the margins and empty spaces. The periphery is moved to the center.
Area photography simply says, "What about this?"
It is wisdom that sees the ordinary with amazement. (Lao Tzu)
Biography
Born: 1973.... Shooting is part of the fabric of my life; it is something that is with me at all times...... My mother was a failed musician and my father, my greatest hero, escaped a camp in World War II (Is it reprehensible to forget - or remember - that your captors are also human beings?). I started investigating photography in high school after running away from home.
Some favorites, photographic and otherwise: Friedlander, Tunbjork, Hatakeyama, DeCarava, Eggleston, Herzog, Antonioni, Carver, Shigeru Ban. I am also inspired by randomness, music, modern literature, the 10 cent coffee at Philippe's,the sound of trains in the distance, the light when there is moisture in the sky, the night landscape when it is overcast, squished pennies, Absinthe, industrial design and sad kermit. I was born and raised in Southern California, which has no shortage of the banal....
Recent cool stuff of note: Two of my images were chosen for the upcoming 2008 AP, which was juried by Kathy Ryan of the New York Times Magazine..... Twelve of my area photos are also in the current "Sin" themed issue of TOPIC mag online...... Lastly, there is a five page feature I photographed in the current Filter Mag (article is on the musician St. Vincent, who plays with Sufjan Stevens and The Polyphonic Spree)