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| by Jason Kapusta |
"We deal with the universe abstractly, as images and concepts created by our mind. We organize our lives around ideas,
words, and other abstractions that never equate with reality. Because abstractions are about the world but not of it, they
are always subject to interpretation, a process unavoidably dependent upon how our subjective mind has organized its accumulated
experiences." Butler Shaffer
Shawn Dougherty was raised in western Pennsylvania surrounded by much of what you see in his photographs. Born in 1978, he
started making pictures at the age of nineteen. Previously unsatisfied with the quality of his prints, he began using a large
format view camera and contact printing his negatives during the spring of 2004.
Though Shawn works within the tradition of straight photography, he rejects further classification of his work. "When
I make a photograph I'm driven by intuition and a visual curiosity. I view subjects as tools in the process of making a photograph,
much like the camera, lens or film. My main concern is using these means to create something new and beautiful, the print
itself. Any illustration or representation is secondary to that end."
Shawn's contemplative approach to composition has been a natural fit with the deliberate and thoughtful practice of using
a view camera. "The ground glass has a way of distilling the chaos of the three dimensional world into a more manageable
series of visual relationships. I've found my best work is not preconceived but discovered under the dark cloth."
This intuitive and methodical way of seeing has extended beyond his use of the view camera and has inspired a series of
images exposed with a 35mm slr. "While I'm committed to the contact print I find it both freeing and stimulating to
wander with the small camera from time to time. Though I use both formats in a similar fashion the 35mm permits a spontaneity
that the big camera does not. The smaller format also reduces exposure times at night, which are quite long to begin with."
Shawn is committed to the hand made print and views each step of the photographic process as an integral part of the creative
experience. "I believe printing requires as much creativity as working in the field. The photograph begins with the
composition but is really brought to life with choices made in the darkroom. I also find a certain satisfaction in making
something by hand."
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