When I profile the work of a photographer I admire I am always looking for the nexus. The connection between the the artist and the images. Recently I explored the connection between childhood experiences and adulthood (Carl Proctor) and just yesterday I was attempting to connect images with the weather (Shaun Simpson).
It should come as no surprise that when viewing the work of photographers located in Florida and California you are going to see more exterior shots, beaches, sand bright yellows and blues. When viewing the work of New York photographers you will see more studio shots. When they can get outside you see a lot of men on roof tops and balcony's. Some try to get to a beach, maybe on Fire Island during the short window of summer. My favorite photographers from the North West are able to shoot outside but they often avoid the beaches and head to abandoned buildings and Forrest's. Those shooting up in Canada and the mid west rely heavily on studio and hotel rooms to shoot and most of their natural light comes from windows.
Above: Abandoned House (Ajkessler)
Why am I writing all of this (I often wonder that myself). I write all this as lately I have found the more and more work I see the more I am able to guess the location of the photographer by not just location but by style, choices of lighting and most of all feel. Robert Colgan however ruined my guessing record. Obviously the models in Colgan's work are not stretched out on the sand. I saw nothing to indicate New York, LA or Canada. I chose Northern California or Washington. I chose those locations because I have detected a focus on lines, shapes and architecture in many of the artists I have profiled from the area.
I of course was wrong. Colgan lives and works in Columbus, Ohio. But... like some of my favorite artists (Mcclaren, Puff, Grantham & Zednerman who all work in or around San Francisco), Colgan's work is firmly rooted in architecture and design. The connection between man and environment a key theme. Urban, rural, structure, abandoned buildings are as important to Robert's work as the models who inhabit them.
'I was born in the Cleveland area, but lived for about 9 years in Louisiana. Most of my thoughts and imagery stem from those long weekend drives into the bayous and lost regions of the countryside that my parents forced us to endure. I remember driving past ruins of old antebellum homes, machines rusting beneath kudzu vines and bits of civilization slowly being reclaimed by nature. My face was always pressed to the window in awe. Strangely we were rarely allowed to stop and explore – we always had some unknown timetable that we had to adhere. Now, as an adult, I find those bits of humanity an interesting allure that demands documentation and incorporation into my work. Especially with the nude, it thematically suggests man as a symbol amidst history – unadorned, alone and finally able to seek himself.'
Robert Colgan
Next two shots: Matt Gravely.
'I guess that I was doing urban exploration long before it was fashionable, but what I felt during those trips has lodged permanently in the recesses of my memory and has slowly worked its way into my art. I still have trouble describing the words that make me return again and again to these locations – the need to place a figure, alone, in these lonely abandonment's. To me it seems necessary. To me it seems like a metaphor of my own self.'
The quote above is a part of From where inspiration arose… from Roberts Blog. The feature gives much greater detail on where Robert's inspiration comes from.
Besides his blog, check out more of Roberts incredible work on his Website HERE: & on Model Mayhem HERE:
Last two shots: Wes Ykema
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