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Arts & Craft
Imagine This: The Photography of Edward R. Buxton This month, DownStreet is pleased to present Imagine This, The Photography of Edward R. Buxton of Bristol.
To go straight to The DownStreet Gallery to see samples of the work on display this month, click here, or on the picture on the right. ... THE
ARTIST: In the Summer of 1958, he took a trip with a geology class to The Badlands of the Dakotas. "I came back and showed people these pictures of rocks, and they were thrilled. So that was the beginning of finding out that you could take pictures of things other people weren't always interested in." So, unlike most, Ted's fascination with photography quickly went beyond snapshots of family gatherings and events. The Brownie kept him going through high school. But his first quality equipment came in the form of a Minolta system, which he picked up overseas in Japan while in the service. That was in 1967. By 1968, he was enrolled in Univ. of Rochester. In late 1968, Ted came upon his long-time companion, "Gunther" -- a 5x7 format Eastman Century View box camera that his father -- an OB/GY specialist who was teaching at Yale at the time -- had come by through one of the hospitals. "The technology had moved beyond plate photography to roll film," Ted said. "So they didn't have much use for it any more." Ted, on the other hand, realized what he had found. The only problem was that it had an old lens, as well as an air shutter, so he put on a color-corrected lens, and, of course, a mechanical shutter. "It took some getting used to," Ted said. "For starters, you had to get used to looking at the world upside-down." While at Rochester, Ted took a Zone System course, inspired by photographer Minor White. Inspired himself, Ted then decided to call White in Boston and ask to meet. "I'd taken the course, and had the connection with the teacher, who'd been a student of Minor White. But still, it was really good of him," Ted said. "It was probably too early to meet with him," Ted recalls. "It would certainly have been more profitable later." On the other hand, after some coaxing, we found out that White did comment on Ted's work, simply and forcefully. "It's very poetic," White had told him. After spending 2 years, Ted left Rochester and went to work in a camera store in Cambridge. In October of 1970, just before he started his new job, Ted married his wife, Linda Zahm. {They celebrated their 30th last year.} "That started a series of odd jobs," Ted offered. In April of 1972, Ted began a six-month Western tour, and when he returned, he and another photographer had an untitled show of their work at The Underground Gallery in NYC. The show was written up in "four or five camera magazines of the day," including Popular Photography and Camera 35, as well as The New York Times. The next month, Ted and his wife, Linda, moved to an apartment in Essex Junction. The year after, they moved to a geodesic dome, technically up in Starksboro, though actually off The Hollow Road between Hinesburg and Huntington. He once again found his way back to the formal study of photography when he enrolled in what was then The Vermont Institute of Community Involvement [VICI], now known as Burlington College. That was in 1975. While at VICI, Ted combined his passion for photography with another passion -- the study of 'Transpersonal Psychology'. For those unfamiliar with this terrain, Transpersonal Psychology is an outgrowth of the work of Carl Jung. It focuses on the 'transpersonal' dimensions of the human psyche, those aspects which seem to transcend the particular cultural or transient historical dimensions of human experience to approach a depth of experience that is intimately associated with archetypal experiences and most closely associated with ritual, art, dream imagery, and similar phenomena. Ted graduated from VICI in 1978. That was his last large public showing. "I did have a couple of small shows through the Vermont Council on the Arts, as well as another small one in Bristol. But, since that time, it's been all manufacturing -- quality management and computers." While he has continued to shoot, then, the photography, like many things in life, has had to take a back seat to the more urgent life tasks, of work and raising a family. Now, however, with both children having graduated from college and out on their own, and with some fortuitous life changes, Ted is finally finding his way back to being able once again to devote more time to his long-standing passion ... and we are the better off for it. The Subjects: The subject matter of Ted's work ranges widely. There are portraits {like the early one of his wife, "LAZ"} and landscapes {like The Bass Rocks, Mass.} ... traditional photos {like the teepees of "Sunshine Mesa, Colorado'} and direct positive images {like "Buddha," which actually turn out a negative image of the subject}. There are also 'studies' of natural phenomena, similar to found art, {like "Wood Grain"} as well as a fascinating series of long exposures which most often blend human figures transparently into natural terrain {for example, "Emergence"} or transform water into light {"Light Stream"}. But in all these, there is something else, too ... something more. Ted's images invite the viewer to enter the world and, in so doing, to see through the surface of things to a world that haste and what Blake called "single vision" often keep us from. ... The ResultS: The results of Ted's work? He offers us a world of light and depth ... a world in which what is human is properly placed ... and a world of infinite connections that bind us together, with one another and the natural world that surrounds us. WHERE TO SEE THE WORK: These and additional images are viewable on Ted's web site, ImageWorks. ... Meanwhile, we invite you to peruse a sampling in this month's DownStreet Gallery. .. ******* ******* If you know of any artists or craftsmen/-women whose work you think deserves attention, don't hesitate to let us know. Simply e-mail us at arts@downstreetmagazine.com. ...
And just in case you were wondering, self-promotion is acceptable.
... If you would like to advertise in this section, or throughout the magazine, please visit our Advertising Info Pages ... or call, write, or e-mail ads@downstreetmagazine.com. ******* ******* . |
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