Notable: The Fine Art Photography of Natalie Young

Natalie Young from series “ Georgia & Sabine”

Catching up after some time away in the mountains, we reviewed our mail and saw an unopened issue of LensWork Extended No. 88 and saw that Natalie Young was included in the portfolios.  We last saw her work among the excellent offerings at Kevin Longino’s Gallery display at Photo LA.

Reviewing her portfolio work using dogs as subjects, we were struck not only by the craftsmanship and mood of the work but how she successfully used abstracts of a scene to convey interesting and sometimes emotional content … all without being “Wegman cute” or overtly sentimental.

We then visited her website and saw more of the same fine execution in “The Farm” series and most impressively in another one called “Elements” … it became apparent why the sample work we saw in January stayed with us.

Her use of selective focus and creative vignette combined with unique tonality make the viewer’s eye move slowly but directly across the images. Really interesting technique …

We can see why her career keeps moving in a solid direction.

Her work can be viewed at: Natalie Young

Her blog is at: Natalie Young Blog

On Site: Photo LA – Best in Show

Susan Burnstine

Although unfair and deeply subjective, we feel it necessary to provide our opinion as to the “BEST IN SHOW” at PHOTO LA 2010. Our criteria is simply which image or set of images left the most lasting impression.

While there were many classic prints to choose from at Photo LA and some great new contemporary work, we found one artist exhibited who continues to catch the growing attention of gallerists, curators and collectors: Susan Burnstine.

Her photographs are ethereal in appearance and easily draw the viewer into a new experience. She achieves this “look” in a unique manner.

I wanted to find a way to portray my dream-like visions entirely in-camera, rather than with post-processing manipulations. To achieve this, I created twenty-one hand-made film cameras and lenses that are frequently unpredictable and technically challenging. The cameras are primarily made out of plastic, vintage camera parts and random household objects and the single element lenses are molded out of plastic and rubber. Learning to overcome their extensive limitations has required me to rely on instinct and intuition – the same tools that are key when attempting to interpret dreams.

Two galleries carried her work at the show, Kevin Longino and Susan Spiritus. One dealer we talked with said the prices for Susan’s work had increased during the show.

We understand the attraction … and congratulate Ms. Burnstine on her work.

*** UPDATE *** See January issue of RANGEFINDER for an article on Susan