Last semester Brian Ulrich came to lecture the School of the Arts at VCU. I admired his work before, but after his lecture, I came to love it. I am amazed and inspired by his beautiful 4x5 images.
My favorite quote from his lecture: "Nothing cures depression like some new shiny stuff."- Brian Ulrich
Here are some thoughts I had after the lecture...
I am so thrilled to have gone to the Brian Ulrich lecture this afternoon. I very much looked forward to this lecture and was so glad I was able to hear him speak about his body of work. First of all, from the start he was extremely laid back and made the audience really feel comfortable. I felt as if he spoke very candidly about his work and revealed his process in a way that was very accessible. . His use of medium format and 4x5 cameras really drive his point home and reveal his skill in capturing these perfectly exposed outdoor scenes. Throughout the lecture, Ulrich joked with the audience and had us all giggling at his found photos that were truly bizarre. In reference to the photograph of the family with the patriarch holding a giant hulking video projector, it is certainly one of those moments when you ask yourself…“really, are they serious?” His series Copia really brought much needed attention to things that as he said we would just walk right by. His use of the title “Copia” for this series was so fitting in addition to his use of “Dark Stores, Dead Malls and Ghost Boxes” as a way to reveal his imagery of the dilapidated, abandoned and desolate remains of these massive stores and buildings that once sparkled and shined. These images are of copious amounts of things, materials, possessions, stuff, that have all been discarded just as quickly as they have been acquired. These giant piles of junk are a commentary about consumer culture and our desire to buy, buy, consume, discard, buy, and consume some more. We go through periods of binging on excessive amounts of stuff and then purge a little by “donating” our things to charity to somehow convince ourselves that we are doing good, when in reality so much of this stuff ends up unused, undiscovered and in massive piles that seem to multiply exponentially. There was a point in his lecture when he said “Nothing cures depression like some new shiny stuff” and oh, how right he is. I found myself emphatically nodding my head in agreement as I often run to the store with an very precise idea in my head of the object/ article of clothing/ shiny new thing that I feel at that moment will bring me the most happiness or joy. Another part of his lecture that I really enjoyed was his explanation of these “portraits” of people in some of these environments. The expressions on their faces are exactly what I was describing. People really do arrive at stores and meander through the aisles and aisles of stuff with such emptiness. It’s as if they really aren’t there and that is evidenced on the expression found on the many of the consumer’s faces. The example that stood out most to me was the “portrait” of the man in the sports store buying a fishing rod. He holds the rod and stares blankly ahead. Buying just becomes compulsory and empty. It’s an instinctual and automatic response to depression, stress, anxiety, and denial that the state of the economy is not doing so great. That feeling is so addictive and also entirely fleeting. After a few days go by, I forget all about the joy that object brought me at that moment in time. There are a lot of memories that come to mind when I think about September 11, 2001, but for some reason, the president’s message to shop to show your patriotism does not come to mind. I find it interesting that both Penelope Umbrico and Brian Ulrich both found such tremendous inspiration from September 11th that it has brought them to continue work that has been started more than ten years ago. It also gives me great hope for my future that if you remain dedicated and true to your vision and concept that eventually you will get to a place in your work where you become really proud of what you have created. Even if I don’t receive a Guggenheim fellowship award, (even though that would be great!) but produce a body of work that I feel so passionate about that I pursue it for more than ten years, I think I’ll feel pretty successful. Ulrich’s lecture was very informative and inspiring. I have more recently been experimenting with shooting long exposures at night, and it makes me want to get right out there and dive right in.
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