Heights Arts Gallery, 2175 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
Overlooked selections from 20th century American photographic studios
Organized by Lisa Kurzner
Thru October 22
Hours: Mon thru Wed 10 am-6 pm
Thurs thru Sat 1:30-9:30 pm
Closed Sun
or by appointment 216.371.3457
The contact sheet—now on the verge of extinction—captures the working life and thought processes of photographers by mapping out the sequence of shots on roll film in the studio or on the street. Choice, timing and bracketing are terms identified with proof sheets that record the unfolding relationships between the photographer and his subject. The unedited visual manuscript, marginalia included, contains the diamonds as well as dross of that unique experience—the shoot.
Contact sheets are vested with an important photographic element—that of time. They slice apart a period of time into individual frames, and by virtue of their sequential nature, render visible patterns and relationships—social, psychological, formal—which lend the object itself a unique position in photographic history. When scanning an entire sheet, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The unintended visual interplay from frame to frame carries a viewer to find unexpected relationships among the details yoked together by this format.
This exhibition of contact sheets is drawn from a local collection. They were purchased exclusively on eBay, and primarily represent anonymous photographers shooting (for the most part) anonymous subjects in portrait studios, on television and film sets, in private homes and suburban backyards.
In between a few recognizable personalities are the good, the bad and the ugly of midcentury culture—from Spanish-tinged melodramas to headshots of hopeful starlets. The best images however are the unplanned ones. The Strange as found in these photographs, much like preparatory sketches for master works, reveal some of the visual throat-clearing and cavalier moments that happen before the camera.
