City
Ghosts
By Laura Hollick
Pulse Niagara -
The narratives held in the walls of our architectural structures
speak of history and human progress and, after living in Buffalo
for 34 years photographer Robert Schulman has witnessed his
city change. "It's easy to see what has evolved for better
and worse," he says.
What
started as a journey to document his city environment transitioned
into a full-blown artistic expression. Using film rather than
digital, Schulman wanders through Buffalo capturing the abstract
stories that lay embedded within the structures and forms he
finds. "I have focused on old structures, capturing the
lasting beauty of what may soon be gone," the artist notes.
"I
go around the hidden and unusual neighborhoods and industrial
sites to see what's there and capture the special images,"
Schulman explains.
During his vintage city treks, Schulman unearths rusty old objects
and peeling back painted doors. "Finding what is in a dumpster
at a scrap metal processing plant is a thrill," he continues
to say, "There is a beauty there in the terminal events
of our scrap, especially the rusted machinery, tanks and discarded
shapes of industrial waste."
Along
with the found objects, Schulman seeks interesting architecture
that marks the character of the city. Using a zoom lens, he
captures close up angles and shapes. The end result of all of
Schulman's photography is an abstract representation of a modern
city dwellers experience.
Schulman
fuses some of his images together, thus furthering the abstract
quality to his shots. It isn't important that you recognize
the location or the subject of each shot, but that a resonance
is felt. Each image shows us a mirror of where we are today
and the world that we came from.
There is a quality of preservation that seeps into his work.
"It has and will be a struggle to continue the preservation,"
he says.
Schulman is interested in the recording the modern world that
he lives in through the filter of his own creativity.
"Reaching
into the human experience and finding relevant ways of expressing
oneself by way of photography is a liberating experience,"
Schulman explains. There is so much that can be learned and
observed about our modern culture when looking at your surroundings,
especially in comparison to the way things used to be.
Each
shot exhibited in Schulman's current exhibition at Quaker Bonnet
is a vintage recorder of our history seen through the eyes of
the present. Fully coded with abstract stories and meanings,
these images are Schulman's innovative way of seeing the world.
He gives us a window from which to view Buffalo from a whole
new perspective. [Laura Hollick]
I've
lived in Buffalo, NY for 39 years, loved the architecture,
art, music, neighborhoods and neighbors. The communities,
living spaces and environment are changing. It's easy to see
what's evolved, for better and worse. I discover the components
of my photos in vintage, industrial and modern architecture
with close-up details contained therein. I have focused on
old structures, capturing the lasting beauty of what may soon
be gone. These images become compositions that resonate melancholy
and up-beat moods with a jazz-like harmonious and dissonant
essence. I often comment that "I've been doing this art
work for 72 months and ..32 years." Since I got my first
35mm camera, I have felt the 'art' of photography. It's emergence
came one day 6 years ago when I stood in my daughter's art
class in a gallery space where a photography show was hung.
I committed myself to an effort continuing with film only,
which has become a creative, rich and rewarding endeavor.
I hope you enjoy the work.