Wynn Bullock exhibit at Spectrum Gallery

[Terry Hayden]

Spectrum Gallery in Fresno, Ca. is proud to host the Wynn Bullock: Color Light Abstractions traveling exhibit from Feb. 3rd to Feb. 27th.

On Friday, Feb. 4th. at 7:00 pm we will be having an artists reception featuring
Wynn's daughter Barbara Bullock-Wilson. We will show a short film about Wynn and follow up with a Q&A session with Barbara. Wynn's other daughter Lynne will also be present and available for discussion of their father's work and philosophy.

So, if you are anywhere within driving/flying/walking/running range of Fresno this
Friday - plan on being there.

If you haven't already heard about this exhibit, check out A.D. Coleman's review in
the current Photo technique magazine:
http://www.phototechmag.com/index.php/januaryfebruary-2011/a-d-coleman

For any more info, feel free to ping me directly : terry@terryhayden.com
or Spectrum Gallery : spectrumart@sbcglobal.net

The gallery website is : http://spectrumphotogallery.org/index.html

Regards,
Terry

[Kirk Gittings]

If you have never seen his work, GO. He is one of my all time favorite LF photograhers. It was an exhibit of his in 1970 in Santa Fe that got me hooked on LF.

[Terry Hayden]

Kirk,

Truth in advertising, etc., etc.-

While the name Wynn Bullock is indeed a giant in the world of large format "straight"photography - that is not what we are exhibiting.

In the early 1960's Wynn became fascinated with experimenting using bits of colored,
fractured glass and other materials in a macro setting.

He used an old Exacta camera with a dual rail bellow extension setup creating Kodachrome slides of colors and light.

The imagery in this collection consists of large prints from those slides.

Anyone that knows Wynn's background and philosophy will easily understand his
experimental nature. These images surpass anything I've seen in photoshoped
abstract imagery - and they were created in the early 1960's using totally analog
methodology.

One of the deterrents to his exhibiting these images in his lifetime was the lack of appropriate print material that would reflect the original images intensity. Now in a crossover of analog to digital, they have been scanned and reproduced in a manner that holds true to the initial imagery.

Being a B&W large format analog sort myself, I was quite skeptical about this collection. However, as the saying goes "now I'm a believer". It's not that I will drop
my view camera and close the darkroom down - but I have to give all appropriate credit to a true pioneer - who is still showing his foresight and contemporary relevance decades later.

Bottom line, of course, anything he set his inquisitive mind to was well worth exploring!

[Darin Boville]

The abstracts are very cool. I've seen them on the web somewhere--from another LFF posting, I think. Would be great to see them in real life.

Is there a show catalog of any sort?

--Darin

[Terry Hayden]

Darin,

Yes, there is a catalog available for this exhibit. It, and a selection of the
images, are available through the Bullock Family Trust website that they
set up for his work.

http://wynnbullockphotography.com/

The galleries page will show you some of these images.

The Shop Online heading will take you to a place where you can order the
catalog ( as well as other items ).

Or, of course, you could come by Friday night and have Barbara and Lynne
autograph them :)

Regards,
Terry

[Merg Ross]

Kirk,

Truth in advertising, etc., etc.-

While the name Wynn Bullock is indeed a giant in the world of large format "straight"photography - that is not what we are exhibiting.

In the early 1960's Wynn became fascinated with experimenting using bits of colored,
fractured glass and other materials in a macro setting.

He used an old Exacta camera with a dual rail bellow extension setup creating Kodachrome slides of colors and light.

The imagery in this collection consists of large prints from those slides.

Anyone that knows Wynn's background and philosophy will easily understand his
experimental nature. These images surpass anything I've seen in photoshoped
abstract imagery - and they were created in the early 1960's using totally analog
methodology.

One of the deterrents to his exhibiting these images in his lifetime was the lack of appropriate print material that would reflect the original images intensity. Now in a crossover of analog to digital, they have been scanned and reproduced in a manner that holds true to the initial imagery.

Being a B&W large format analog sort myself, I was quite skeptical about this collection. However, as the saying goes "now I'm a believer". It's not that I will drop
my view camera and close the darkroom down - but I have to give all appropriate credit to a true pioneer - who is still showing his foresight and contemporary relevance decades later.

Bottom line, of course, anything he set his inquisitive mind to was well worth exploring!

Hi Terry,

Congratulations on bringing an exhibition of Wynn's work to the Spectrum Gallery!

I recall the time when Wynn was doing the color abstractions, and his excitement. It was yet another area of his photographic exploration, beginning with the solarized portraits of the 1940's, and later, photograms and negative prints. For sure, he was an innovator.

However, it was his stunning black and white work of the 1950's and 1960's that had the greatest impact on me. A.D. Coleman suggests that Wynn has temporarily slipped into obscurity; however, Wynn's photographs and writings have an assured place in the twentieth century history of photography.

Hope you get a good turnout for the exhibit.

Merg

[Terry Hayden]

Merg,

Thanks for the support!

I have to say that curating this exhibit was a bit taxing. These images don't
exactly lend themselves to the type of standard arrangements that I'm used to...

Yes, his B&W work is what, to this day, impacts me the most.

However - these abstractions are phenomenal as a body of work in their own right.
He truly was working with pure color, light and form - any resemblance to what you might
call representational imagery was purely happenstance ( or projection on the viewers part ).

Considering the B&W work that he was known for, pursuing this abstract path
was quite a brave move for him.

We are all looking forward to the discussion with his Daughter Barbara on Friday
evening.

If anyone reads this and comes to the event, please let me know - I'm always curious about what sort of reach this ( or any other ) list has.

Regards,
Terry