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Last modified: Nov. 11, 1999, 11:11 p.m.

TIPS '99 Artists

Wynn White

Presentation quote: "This is our bedroom in Kashiwa. I would see this every morning when I wake up, and I always thought that I gotta get a picture of it, which I finally did. You can create a lot of stories with windows and beds. Windows keep the cold out in or let the light in. And people sleep in beds (or futon), they die in beds, and life is created in beds."

Statement: "For me, tripping the lens shutter is but one of many steps involved in the creation of a finely crafted black and white print. At each phase of the process new opportunities for discovery and expression arise.

When I encounter an object or scene that stirs something in me I stop, look carefully, and then set up my camera. I view the real world color image on the ground glass and expose it to black and white film. After film development the image is permanently fixed and ready to be transformed into a print. I savor the moment when the wet negative image is first held up to the light.

It is now time for the printer in me to take control. I expose the image onto paper and work the print through a sequence of chemical baths including a toner to add warmth and insure permanence. A final archival wash is given so that the image can still be viewed long after I am gone. The finished print is placed under a mat and in a frame and then hung on a well lit wall.

I stand back and view the completed work with my most critical eye and if it moves me the print is a success and the creative cycle is complete. The photograph now has a life of its own and is ready to be viewed and interpreted by others."

Bio: American born in Oregon in 1948 and raised in Idaho. Lived in Seattle before moving to Japan in 1986. Graduate of Sophia University. Works only in black & white and does his own darkroom work primarily in gelatin silver. For the past six months or so he has also been making Vandyke prints and Argyrotypes and plan to start doing platinum soon. He uses 6x7 through 8x10 cameras for his work which is made up of details of architectural structures, still life, landscape, and portraiture. He has been involved with photography for the past twenty years and is self taught.

Presentation quote: "If you ate a dragon's eyeball and could see everything that the dragon had ever seen, what would that be?"

Statement: "Tokyo is a mysterious woman who wears time like a layered kimono. The first encounter with her can overwhelm the senses to the degree that she seems to be a hallucination. Slowly, selectively, she offers glimpses of the under layers of her clothing, revealing an essential beauty that while alive is also frozen in time.

That is the enigma of Tokyo. Although all of her eras are visible in the present, they are not readily apparent. Tokyo reveals them in subtle movements that unveil color and form. It is these layers of undergarment that I have hunted with my camera.

By applying additional color to photographs I seek to mimic the kimono of Tokyo's layered time. The color outlines her forms and conveys a sense of Tokyo as a living city that encompasses both the past and the present."

Bio: A native New Yorker who studied photography at the State University of New York, College at Purchase. She travels extensively throughout the world, voraciously photographing and writing about her experiences. Her projects include Tokyo: Hallucination Chronicle, Easter in Berlin (a ten year project of photographing ostrich eggs at the Berlin Wall), and Seville: Holy Week.

Presentation quote: "Most of my recent work is about things or objects which are very personal to me--things I find or friends give me. These flowers were given to me at one of my exhibitions, and I photographed them. The seal is also my own, with my name in Korean characters because I taught Tae Kwon Do (and karate) and needed a seal to put on my students' certificates."

Bio: Based in Kamogawa, Chiba Pref. and been living in Japan for 5 years. Formerly from Santa Fe, N.M., via Athens, Georgia. Fine art photographer, working exclusively with large format, handcoated platinum-palladium prints. His images range from portraits to nudes, landscapes and still-life. Past exhibitions at Tower Gallery, Egg Gallery, YTSU Gallery, and Tsubaki Gallery. Photo book "STILL" was published by Korinsha in 1996. Taught a platinum workshop at Yokohama Museum of Art during Golden Week in 1999.

Presentation quote: "This is a self-portrait when I had red hair. The texture expresses exactly how I feel and what I've been through. If I spoke out the words, I was afraid that my words would mean something else from what I meant. The alphabet letters in the image indicate that I'm trying to say something, but it's not what I'm saying that's important. I just wanted to let people know that I was trying to communicate."

Statement: "There had been many artists who used photography as a rough sketch for a woodcut design, and when I started building ideas for this Woodcut series, I had come to think that combining these two distinct methods of art would help me express myself better. While speaking two languages, using verbal communication was certainly not the most simplistic way to go, so I started carving my messages on wood. More than what I want to say, it is essential for me to let the viewer know that what I create is a voice of my own, because only the visual impression is left in the end."

Bio: Grew up in Japan and overseas and became completely bilingual in English and Japanese. Graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Tyler School of Art in Pennsylvania in 1997 with a BFA in Photography and returned to Tokyo in 1998 to pursue a career as a multimedia artist. Combining woodcuts and photography is her main artistic theme. She is currently a designer working with a variety of graphics applications as well as motion art. She also helped design the TIPS '99 logo, Program, and postcards.

Presentation quote: "Whether it's photographs, paintings, drawings, music, or words, I should be able to select any medium to express myself the way I want to."