My photography show entitled Familiar Strangers opened at L'ASSO in New York City on December 14th, 2010 and closes today. We had a great opening night party and got a bit of press coverage: NPR // BroadwayWorld.com.
Here are some photos of the show from Getty Images:
Portraits on display at L'ASSO in Nolita, NYC.
Me at the opening night party.
Greg Barris, comedian and part owner of L'ASSO, and myself at the opening night party.
A little about the show:
Familiar Strangers, a portrait series by John W. Rutland, explores the anonymous relationships at the periphery of our daily existence – the people we frequently encounter but rarely engage.
Artist's Statement:
Public Radio International recently aired a feature on the iconic photographs of the last decade. In the program, photojournalist Eamonn McCabe commented on the democratization of photography and photojournalism in this age of the digital and cellphone cameras. “We’re all taking pictures,” he said. “But not many of us are taking great photographs.” This quote perfectly summed up a feeling that had been growing within me for some time. It was the seed of this feeling that drove me, a few years prior, to purchase a Hasselblad medium format film camera to get away from the digital “snapshots” I found myself taking. Owning a digital SLR camera, as many do these days, I found myself shooting hundreds of pictures and upon reviewing them would often be disappointed to find not a single photograph that really spoke to me. I wanted to regain the pause and thought before each click of the shutter and strive to make every frame count. As a result, I made the decision to get back to classic portraiture. I chose black and white film to remove the distractions of color and put the emphasis on the landscape of the face. I chose to work in a square aspect ratio that, I feel, frames the head and shoulders of the subject nicely and places them at the center of attention. I got physically close to the subject with the camera, shooting the portrait so tight that the environment the subject inhabits becomes abstracted and insignificant and the emphasis is put solely on the person within the frame.
These portraits are incredibly simple at first glance but quite intimate at their core. Familiar Strangers, for me, is about taking the time to notice those around us in an effort to make our daily interactions more meaningful. That said, my hope is that the personal connections I made with the subjects shows in the final photographs. For inquiries on ordering prints, please email prints@johnwrutland.com
