Rebekah Rocha

Photography and the Northwest

2008-06-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

©Jenny Riffle, Gibran Looks Away, 2007, C-Print

Over the last 14 years, I have been involved in some way with the Photographic Center Northwest, locally known as "PCNW" a fine art photography school in Seattle. Early on I used my free time as a volunteer and then filled a myriad of roles including student, designer, painter and for the last 5 years, instructor of various photography classes.

The center has grown from a small group of buildings to a larger, concentrated art space on Seattle's Capitol Hill housing a school and rental facility. A highlight is the changing monthly gallery show which showcases some great photography, including this portrait from Seattle Photographer Jenny Riffle.

beyond the backyard

2008-06-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Amy Stein, Watering Hole, 2005, C print, 24” × 30”

From June 20-August 23, The Museum of Contemporary Photography in sultry Chicago hosts Beyond the Backyard, a group show exploring the residential backyard and the myriad of ways it has influenced contemporary photographers including Amy Stein, Dawoud Bey and Brian Ulrich among others....

The American Backyard is as pervasive as ever, along with its promise of peace, lush green lawns, barbecues and friendly neighbors... They never mention the kids who shoot bb guns at anything that moves and the early bird who must mow the grass at 8am on saturday. I am always irritated by the amounts of water I see being used to keep grass green. (As my dad always said, you cant eat grass!) Besides, dont't they know weekends are for sleeping late??

christo at hummingbird roost

2008-05-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

To increase the temperature around the grape vines and encourage them to grow faster, my dad wrapped the entire vineyard in clear plastic. As the sun set, the shimmery plastic reflected lots of light and I imagine seemed awfully odd for the neighbors.

in the bottom

2008-05-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

I used to swim at night on warm summer days. We would head towards the underwater light in the deep end, always looking out for giant black spiders . They would drown in the pool and then sink to the bottom, sometimes still upright. When the water moved it looked like they were still alive and moving too.

hiding

2008-05-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

Everything has been so busy lately, I'd love to curl up and hide in some of the tall grasses. Except I imagine the spiders would freak me out. Something about hiding is interesting. Finding a brief escape from all the grown up responsibilities. Getting away to a remote cottage, or a small town diner, or just wandering the dark city streets alone.

cinco de mayo

2008-05-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

in the garage

2008-05-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

who are the urban archaeologists?

2008-05-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

Ive been thinking allot about what lies under the backyard. Literally, and also figuratively. When I was very young I wanted to be an archaeologist, something seemed exciting about finding long lost stories of some forgotten culture. Discovering their secrets. I'm sure the reality of tedious digging in remote locations is far from the exciting and glamorous "indian jones" style that is much romanticized!

In a way discovering the secrets of a backyard, or a basement is also interesting to me. Finding clues encourages me to wonder about the previous people who lived there. In my brother's recent basement renovation, he found some old porn from the 50s and 60s. It's tame and kind of funny by today's standards. He clearly unearthed someone's secrets, like other bits of found treasure, these things exist as shreds of evidence left for us to piece together the story.

mysteries

2008-04-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

the twilight zone

2008-04-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

Gregory Crewdson's new book, Beneath the Roses came out last month, along with an interesting article in Aperture magazine and an online interview. In the article, Crewdson discusses some of his artistic influences, including Lynch, Hopper and Eggleston. I share some of the same influences, although I tend to favor the dramatic, but not necessarily the fantastic....however I did grow up watching the twilight zone and remember staring vividly at the screen captivated by the spooky events going on.

"sub": under "urbia": city

2008-04-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Within the suburbs lies a hidden world, a collection of concealed yards, covered windows, buried secrets. I am interested in this hidden world. We prune, and tend and try to tame it all and yet it somehow returns.

looking

2008-04-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

missing

2008-04-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

2008-03-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

hideout

happy st patricks day!

2008-03-17T22:41:00.001-07:00

I got some power ball tickets in Denver last week and won $17! was hoping for the 250,000,000!

38 is the new 28!

2008-03-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

another year older and wiser and better!
I just returned from SPE in Denver today and had a really good time. Saw lots of photo friends from different parts of the country, professors and tons of photography. I never knew Arno Minkkinen would be dancing like a madman at 3am! I had critiques with James Kolby, Director of the Weeks Gallery in Jamestown, NY; Liz Unterman, the education coordinator the the Center for Photography at Woodstock; Tammy Cromer-Campbell from TCC Photo Gallery in Longview, TX and Bill Kouwenhoven, editor of Hotshoe magazine based in Berlin.

2008-03-11T21:58:00.001-07:00

beneath

mystery in an ordinary place

2008-03-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

the lunar eclipse (just for fun! 15 minute exposure)

In looking around these last few weeks I've been shooting through the "dense" spaces of my surroundings and searching for ways to invite the viewer in. There is not much room or much light, so it is simultaneously inviting and unsettling, just where I want it to be. I'm looking to give a sense of being there and show less of a representation of what is there. Really focusing on the mood of the images.

Yesterday I met with Claire. We had a productive meeting, I see my style is evolving and I am not completely comfortable with it yet, its like a new pair of shoes. I need a little time to make it mine. Claire wants me to quit fucking around and focus so to speak, in other words make some very conscious choices and be strong to defend them. what is it about this place and (my) being in it? Each addition to the body of work should be explained and purposeful. The most successful images are evocative of mood and really speak to a place of mystery and intrigue in a very ordinary place. I'm working on the images that will act as bridges between the more atmospheric pieces and the more descriptive ones. lots to do and June will be here before we know it.

I'm currently printing some work to take to Denver tomorrow for the SPE conference. It will be good to see Jen, Liz, Sam, Patrick and who knows who else will be there from Boston. A mid semester summit. I'll also have a chance to have drinks and catch up with my undergrad professors Jeannie Pearce and Alida Fish. which is always fun. I've got to get some leave behinds printed up so I'm off & Ill post more images later.

The Last Iceberg

2008-03-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

For the last month I have enjoyed the cool reflections from the latest show at PCNW's gallery, Camille Seaman's, The Last Iceberg and Lisa M. Robinson's Snowbound. The prints exude a quiet stillness in the gallery and a much needed brightness to our weary Seattle winter!

2008-03-05T21:37:00.000-08:00

It's dark & I am standing out in the street by the mailboxes in my sweats and slippers taking 5 and 10 minute photographs. A neighbor's house sitter came out with a dog. The dog saw me and barked but I don't think she could see me, although I did say hello....needless to say, I'm surprised the police were not called to check out the "stranger" lurking in the shadows on our quiet street

winter

2008-02-25T19:43:00.000-08:00

psychological portraits

2008-02-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

The Oscars are coming...Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises and Russian tattoos...
A couple of years ago in march I spent my birthday in new york. I went to the Russian Samovar for caviar, aspic, herring and vodka. It was snowing (!) and absolutely amazing. There is something wonderfully seductive about the lounge, the red lights glow amidst all the people smoking, laughing and comfortably hanging out.

In a similar night, I had a great Russian dinner at Restaurant Pasternak in Berlin. Named after Boris Pasternak, the author of Doctor Zhivago, for which the movie version in 1966 won 5 Oscars, including one for cinematography and one for art direction.

These restaurants and movies are all about ambiance, mood and getting in. Presenting a psychological portrait. of a person. or of a place.

Image, Donald Weber

Documentary photographer Donald Weber's images of life in Russia are haunting, saturated with color and evocative. Based out of Kiev and Moscow, he was recently awarded a spot in PDN's 30 of 2008. He's also worked as an architect and he was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007. smart

Eraserhead

2008-02-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

Watched more Lynch: Dynamic 01: The Best of David Lynch.com. A collection of abstracts. Also watched Eraserhead, with my uncle Phil (dads brother) who is visiting and a retired pastor. He thought it was interesting, confusing and a little weird. Liked the worm baby and the industrial landscape.

2008-02-17T22:06:00.000-08:00

escape

show me the house!

2008-02-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

so, after all this photographing at my childhood house, where is the house?

2008-02-16T19:03:00.000-08:00

Looking up the street. To preserve the views of the water and the Olympic Mountains, no trees can be taller than the highest roof line. This is in the "covenants", the laws for this private, but ungated community, "Innis Arden". We have been listening to construction non-stop for the last year, (actually closer to 10) After 30 years, the neighbors across the street sold for a deal at 950K, (market was 1.5k ) to their son's "friend" who said he would live in it. They had attachments to the home and wanted it to be treasured. mistake. The new owners gutted it and and are doing a "restyle" flip which is a little awkward (& ugly), to say the least. They've added a parapet front covered in cement stucco, but with a contemporary composite roof tile. The homes in this neighborhood are almost always purchased to be lived in. There are no fixers the developers look for. And the permits and building restrictions are incredible.

Innis Arden has an interesting history.This sign from the Innis Arden subdivision in north Shoreline dates from the 1940s. William Boeing subdivided the land in 1941 and wrote into the deeds a set of restrictive covenants, including "RACIAL RESTRICTIONS" and "ANIMALS."
All of the lots are large, at least .5 acre, But its only about 7 miles from downtown Seattle. Many of the original 50's ranch homes are still here, as well as some great modern and spanish gems.
Much of Seattle and the Northwest was segregated in its early years up to the 1960's. Racial deed restrictions became common after 1926 when the U.S. Supreme Court validated their use with language like this:No property in said addition shall at any time be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased in whole or in part to any person or persons not of the White or Caucasian race
All of these neighborhoods now are vibrant mixes of cultures, some more than others.

Rain and Lynch

2008-02-11T23:18:00.000-08:00

Its been raining and the shooting opportunities are low. So Ive been watching films and reading. I've been looking at David Lynch. Every part of his film is so carefully constructed, the color, lighting and music all work to explore alternate realities and conscious/subconscious minds. How his background as a painter influences his work and how narrative is not always linear.

First up was his latest film: Inland Empire. It has the classic Lynch feel, although I miss the velvety quality of film as this was all done digital. Lynch says its his new favorite media: cheap, flexible and much faster than traditional film.

Ive also watched The Strait Story, about a 79yr old man who drives a riding mower from Iowa to Wisconson. Based on a true story, the cinementography captures the vastness of the midwest. And finished out with: Pretty As a Picture, the Art of David Lynch.
I want the rain to stop

2007-12-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

Light and Twilight

2007-12-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

an Excerpt from my last essay, "Light and Twilight":

In returning to my childhood home, I have noticed the way my memories of the past intermingle with the present and create a timeless “new reality”. Many things have changed over the last 20 years and yet there remains a familiarity in the surroundings. It’s as if my eyes have recorded the changes as real, but my body still senses that part of what is missing remains hidden beneath the surface, like an amputee who still feels his missing limb. As darkness approaches, the line between what was there and what is there begins to blur. Shadows take on other presences, mysterious shapes loom in the corners-are they real or are they merely optical tricks?

As I walk through a once familiar playground of dirt and weeds and rockery, I am attracted to the play of light as it casts a glow through the trees. It is during twilight, the mysterious time of transition between day and night that I sense most this ambiguity of memory and place. I have returned repeatedly to photograph at twilight, to capture what I feel is that hidden world, the places I know are there and yet remain obscured in broad daylight.

"the hidden world"

Growing up at moderately high latitude, I have witnessed many evenings of that peculiar skylight, watching sunlight reflect off the water as the distinctions between objects blur. Just before the sun dips below the horizon, the light starts to change, its low angle in the sky casts sideways shadows and luminous light on everything. Unlike the early photographers inspired by light and the romantic poetry of Shelly and Wordsworth, I am interested in the possibility of twilight photography as a metaphor for the “in between” times. In between my childhood and adult life; in between the urge for control and the desire for abandon. “Entre chien et loup” the French expression for “twilight” translates into English as “Between the dog and wolf.” At the end of daylight, the domestic dog inside of us quiets down and the restless wolf appears. Like for the werewolf of folkloric tales, the twilight hours hold both beauty and fear.

years end

2007-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

I'm printing and packing and getting everything ready to ship.

in summary...

As a child I had a huge interest in archeology and biology. I collected insects, kept animals and sketched all the time. As a photographer, I have been interested in recording the passing of time at this house; with some practice I have been able to slow down my frantic daily pace enough to notice the changing light. I have been focused on looking at things the way they really are, trying not to romanticize or imply meaning on an object or subject in a photograph. In my reconnecting with my childhood home, I have noticed what has changed and what remains.

I am fascinated with the endless struggle to tame the plants and land, and how no matter what we do it will all ultimately go back to its roots. Time is fleeting, and I am interested in capturing a representation of that fleeting time.

As I began this semester I sought to loosen up my work a bit and at the same time tell a story with my images. Not a literal story, but ones that speaks to the sense of psychological space that exists there. It has become a story of memory, of change and of the persistence of nature to seek to reclaim its borrowed bits. As much as I love this place, I know it will not be mine forever. One day someone else will buy it, will dig it up and destroy what I find so dear. It is a place in constant flux.

2007-12-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

2007-11-16T19:23:00.000-08:00

writing from memory

2007-10-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

At times I get stuck when I am trying to talk about my work. Often I will start to tell stories, the ideas behind why I photographed a particular scene. and I have lots of stories. Ellen suggested I try writing about several of my images and see what memories they evoke. just as an exercise.
She also suggested I move away from the figure a bit and try to shoot with less predictability and less romantic. Really simply look at the light and color.

and try a self portrait.

Civil Twilight

2007-09-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

I've been spending a lot of time out at twilight, shooting and looking at the way the light changes everything.

summer ending

2007-09-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

End of the Arbor

2007-08-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Don't all roofs have moss?

2007-07-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

place

2007-07-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Cinder

This semester I am working with Ellen Garvens, an associate professor of photography at the University of Washington. Our first meeting went very well and she has suggested I look to photograph the overlooked or forgotten areas of my surroundings. Much of Ellen's work is sculptural and her "Assemblages" are really beautiful and evocative.

I'm reading "The Lure of the Local" by Lucy Lippard which seems to be on every grad students reading list for looking at "place". So I'm photographing this place that I have known for so long and yet never really looked at up close.

Showing the Hidden

2007-07-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

For my next work , I have chosen to focus on several areas. Overall, I am interested in the exploration of the relationship of the figure to a place, specifically my childhood backyard, and finding ways to portray my connections there: the mystery, the sense of loss (if any), the representation of the hidden from view, “what lies beneath” so to speak.

I am interested in exploring the idea of “control” and “release”, or “opposing forces”, recording a trace of the seen and unseen and photographing a non-physical manifestation (light, time). This is a key interest for me, whether I am photographing the figure or a landscape I am always drawn to showing what is hidden from view and how the underlying things effect the outer presentation.

New Explorations

2007-07-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

directions:
1. Explore more the idea of “control” and “release”, “opposing forces”
2. Look at recording the “trace” the “seen and unseen”
3. Photographing a non-physical manifestation
4. Try photographing a series of one subject, experiment for a while
5. Pursue Diptych, pairing of objects
6. Experiment with stitching more intensely--within the image, tracing areas, using the thread to “draw”, look at how it can change or alter the image
7. Work into an image and then re-photograph
8. Explore the relationship of the “childhood home/landscape”
9. Look at the formal aspects of the prints: pull apart some diptychs, “free” the images from
borders, and possible vary the print sizes, encourage the viewer to move in and out of the space
10. Explore the “place” more
11. Explore the sense of loss in the childhood home, is the connection lost? Memory?
12. Some images appear too “precious”-look at ways of loosening them up
13. Consider how the color and black and white relate to each other
14. POLAROIDS: Explore the freedom provided by polaroids-changing camera, format,
15. Triptychs are good, explore them more
16. Move away from “editorial” feel of the work
17. Try others methods of attachments: sewing, staples, wire, etc
18. Work Feels too fragmented, try telling more of the story
19. Try giving us different TYPES of information: scans, diagrams, close-up photos, etc
20. Watch the stitching doesn’t get too distracting feels like a scar
21. Explore the evocative, mysterious nature of the work
22. Try Photographing more directly
24. Try sharper focus, out of focus becomes too generalized
25. Try more reworking in image (Wegman) gouache, paint, and pencil
26. Resist photographing things with too much meaning
27. Consider Alt Process photography: Is it valid or a crutch?
28. Explore (my) sensuous relationship to the world, camera/film as an affirmation of sensuous
29. Digital is an “infinite medium” it doesn’t decay (like film)

Suggested artists:
1. David Prfti
2. William Christenbarry
3. Edie Bresler
4. Robert Smithson
5. Emma Tapley
6. Eggelston
7. Dave Torcoletti (photographer)
8. Cig Harvey (photographer)
9. Todd Hido (photographer)
10. Lorna Simpson (photographer)
11. Walid Raad
12. Catherine Opey
13. Virginia Beahan
14. Laura McPhfee, large color bird images
15. Daniel Ranalli (Boston Photographer)
16. Ann Arnold McDonald (Czeck photographer)
17. Craig Barber (pinhole/platinum)
18. Rosamund Purcell
19. Cristo’s Drawings
20. Graciela Iturbide
21. Ann Truitt, sculptor
22. Martin Johnson Heed (landscape painter of light)
23. Kensit
24. Casper David Freedrick, painter
25. Virginia Behan
26. Thomas Struth
27. Wegman
28. Atget, -look at play with focus and contrived figure
29. Marian Goodman Gallery

Back to work

2007-07-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

Antlers

After several weeks in New York, I'm back in Seattle and shooting again. New York is always great, but the summer weather sure leaves something to be desired...It's hard to beat a cocktail up on the hill at home watching the sunset and the ferrys go by.

For summer shows, Serra at MOMA was monumental and Stephen Shore at ICP was a really wonderful collection of so much of his work. I especially liked his older pieces, the images felt more emotional. "All the Meat you can Eat" was funny and clever and odd. we sure don't have gas at $1.17 per gallon anymore!

For now, my explorations into mixed media are at a halt. Ive been seduced by the lush beauty of straight photography and I'll stick with it for a while

2007-07-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

Semester Summary

2007-06-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

Sitting in my temporary studio, I look at all my images spread out over the tables and it seems I’ve traveled quite a long distance from where I began in early January. It has been a challenging semester, but very productive one that started out with an unexpected move in February. Subsequently, I ended up placing most of my possessions in storage and spreading out my studio to three different places: my office, my home and an old huge basement of the school where I teach.

It is funny sometimes how attached to a space we can become, how important the sense of security is and how valuable that place we can spread out all our work to stare at everyday becomes. Immediately I felt a sense of loss and of disconnection–as if without a home of my own I could not find the internal calm and creativity I needed to motivate me to make art. I didn’t want to hang work in my office in case some students came in and messed with it (it is high school after all) and I had a minor scare when the basement at the other school some of my work is stored had a small flood. When I looked at my cameras, I didn’t know what really I wanted to take pictures of. As time wore on, I began to think about where creativity really lives, how for me it isn’t tied to any one place but that I respond to my surroundings whatever they are.

So currently my surroundings are the places I lived as a girl, I am in my childhood house again, although the house itself is more grown up (I am as well, I suppose). I have been spending a lot of time outside, soaking in the fresh air and trying to relax my mind from all the crazy stresses I feel from all my different jobs. I’ve noticed how much the plants have grown in 20 years and how the dogs run like mad through the garden and vineyard. Yes, there is a vineyard complete with wine cellar, hilltop deck and a view of the sound where we watch the sunset and boats go out to sea. It’s really quite spectacular.

But amongst all this beauty, I still feel an unsettling restlessness with my spirit, I can’t calm my mind at night and am always thinking of something. These feelings have influenced my work as well. I have continued my photography of light, spaces and figures–paying attention to how they leave their marks in their surroundings, both in a literal and more abstract manner. I am interested in how memory has an effect on how we experience a place or event. But even more, I am interested in portraying the calm and the tension surrounding me.

Chimea

2007-06-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

Chimea

Well schools almost over and my students are ready for summer. I'm getting ready for our trip to the southwest. Flying to San Diego, then driving and camping in Joshua Tree, The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and on through the Four Corners and across Arizona. A big loop. I'm excited, but also stressed with getting work finished and shipped.

Then its back to Seattle, change bags, spend the night, and fly to Boston.

I'm taking my SX-70 to shoot along the drive and find some instant satisfaction! shooting, processing, scanning and printing takes a bit of time...so I'm looking forward to the change

The Trace

2007-05-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

2007-05-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

measuring growth

2007-05-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

It's a rough day

2007-05-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

Digital Negative Tests

2007-04-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

Palladium Print Negative Test

I've been working on creating digital negatives for use in creating palladium prints. It's not quite there yet and it is a bit frustrating getting the densities just right. I do find the actual test kind of interesting, I like the contrast in the combination of visual information and technical data.

I'm also thinking a lot about my exposure to chemicals. As I get older, I find I am more sensitive to the chemistry in the darkroom. I have switched to all liquid and as many hypo-allergenic chemicals as I can for my students, just to limit the exposure. As with many other photographers I know, sensitivity often increases over time and some end up highly allergic. My grandfather worked as a painter for years at a navy shipyard and ultimately died of leukemia. I guess we all take health risks for what we do.

I'm also finding a lack of inspiration this week, and the pressure is mounting. The academic work is ok although I feel there are so many books I need to read! the list keeps growing......

2007-04-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

Wings

2007-04-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

wings

Miami!

2007-03-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

I attended the national SPE conference this month in Miami. Land of sun. I knew a mohito and a cuban sandwich were waiting for me, so I packed my bags...

By far, the highlight of the trip was a reception for us held at the The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse. It was the best collection of photography I've EVER seen! Over 45,000 square feet devoted to the collection of Martin Z Margulies and his curator Katherine Hinds. One of the worlds top 25 private collections of photography, video, installation art and sculpture.

A key component of the collection is that entire bodies of work are represented. A wall of Walker Evans polaroids. Gary Winograd's entire series Women are Beautiful. Man Ray. Serrano. Gursky. Struth. the list goes on....

With all the photography goings on, we never actually made it to south beach during the day. Be we did make a trip to La Casa de las Guayaberas and went shopping cuban style.

The railing

2007-03-10T23:26:00.000-08:00

2007-03-08T23:24:00.000-08:00

The Rockery

2007-03-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

Weeds

2007-03-03T22:55:00.000-08:00

Artifacts

2007-03-03T22:44:00.000-08:00

resting

I've been thinking about how memory effects our perceptions of a place. I'm living in my childhood home, where I last lived here almost 20 years ago. (not counting those in between college summers) Many things have changed as expected, but some things remain.

It's interesting all the places I remember playing and which corners of the yard felt significant. I am interested in the idea and process of "leaving a mark". How the things we have done to this place over the years have left their little "artifacts". How can I photograph the marks we have left behind?

Leaving a mark

2007-02-15T21:31:00.000-08:00

Chairs

In the early 1990s, I had 2 portraits taken of myself at a new age fair with a Kirlian Camera, a form of Photography which records electric energy as a color or “aura”. Taken 2 years apart, the differences in the glowing colors surrounding me were apparent, from an intense red in the first portrait to a larger greenish-yellow halo surrounding my head in the later. Though scientifically debatable, the effect of recording energy or the “trace” of energy was what interested me, how that energy created a physical presence, a “mark” on the film.

I am interested in presenting a record of the marks we make in our surroundings and the traces we leave behind. I am also interested in the ways in which memory leaves its mark on us in the present, how an event or place can create an effect long after its existence.