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GREG
WAKABAYASHI:
Can you describe
the experience
of creating
the Fairgrounds
images as
a snapshot
of your own
creative process?
SEAN
PERRY:
For the Fairgrounds
series, I
was initially
drawn to the
architecture
and mechanics
of the machines—the
idea that
this is their
reality, not
ours. I would
watch rides
for hours,
mark the sun
travel and
where things
would be silhouetted
and at what
times. The
majority of
these pictures
were at dusk,
right when
the air begins
to feel cooler.
I made images
over multiple
years at parking
lot fairs,
carnivals,
the rodeo
in Austin,
Texas.
After the
film is exposed
and developed,
I make work
prints and
just live
with the images
a while. Printing
them is the
second chance
I have at
communicating
the ambiance
that drew
me in the
first time.
I like photographing
things, but
I love
printing them.
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Nimbus |
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GREG
WAKABAYASHI:
In your previous
work, Transitory,
you photographed
a variety of
architectural
structures:
buildings, electrical
towers, smoke
stacks...all
inanimate. But
your photographs
somehow brought
them to life.
They suggested
a sense of movement
within the stillness
of pure existence.
In Fairgrounds,
you turned your
attention towards
a subject that
is all about
movement—the
rides, the people.
Did that require
you to change
the way you
looked at things
in order to
create these
particular images
and yet remain
consistent with
the aesthetic
you established
in your earlier
work?
SEAN
PERRY:
No, I don’t
think so...I
believe my subjects
are often the
subplot to the
larger theme
of light and
its transformative
qualities. I
love the way
light has the
power to give
and reduce mass
and emotionally
envelop and
awaken misplaced
things you already
knew. The subjects
I photograph
are the characters
that illustrate
that phenomenon
and story.
I believe these
photographs
are what happens
when you close
your eyes and
listen...images
about the sounds
you see. I wanted
to express the
world of the
machines, if
you will. I
showed the Fairgrounds
pictures to
photographer
Robb
Kendrick
while I was
working on them
and he commented
that it’s
as if these
are pictures
of how the rides
would wish to
see themselves.
I can’t
do any better
than that. |
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Lords
of the
Park |
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GREG
WAKABAYASHI:
Despite the
apparent spareness
and simplicity
in your work,
one of the things
I see in it
is a sense of
meticulous consideration.
As the viewer,
it makes me
feel as if there
is more to see
than might be
immediately
apparent and
that your own
careful attention
to the creation
of the image
inspires me
to look at it
with the same
amount of care.
Is that a fair
assessment of
how you approach
your work?
SEAN
PERRY:
Thank you, that
is the best
possible ideal.
What I really
hope for in
my audience
is the willingness
to feel something...to
be amused, to
dream, to be
still. My intention
being: Can I
show you something
that will let
you forget everything
you know and
in that moment
discover a small
secret?
I feel that
if I honor my
part in making
them, I can
hope for a mutual
exchange with
the viewer in
considering
them. I have
always felt
the pictures
belong to the
viewer, the
experience of
making them
belongs to me.
Within that
experience is
my pursuit to
make images
about things
that are earnest
and graceful—to
communicate
the atmosphere
of a thing beyond
its physical
form. To do
that, I reduce
everything I
can and hopefully
what is left
for the viewer
is something
potent, iconic
and dream-worthy. |
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Airshow |
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GREG
WAKABAYASHI:
Who or what
are some of
the most important
artistic influences
on your work
as a photographer?
SEAN
PERRY:
So many influences!
My father was
a biology teacher
and carpenter,
and much of
my childhood
imagery is rooted
in science,
a workshop and
the desire to
be a craftsman.
The way Caravaggio
felt light,
how Albert
Watson uses
black and shadow
detail, the
tonality of
Irving
Penn’s
prints. I was
dumbfounded
when I discovered
Robert
and Shana ParkeHarrison.
Beyond the imagery
my heroes have
created, I am
deeply influenced
and inspired
by the way they
live, the discipline
practiced in
their craft,
the potential
found in the
simple, raw
materials they
choose to work
with. I adore
how the final
artifact they
make seems as
natural as breathing,
as if it existed
all along. |
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The
Claw |
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GREG
WAKABAYASHI:
Do your photographs
reveal anything
about you
as a person?
Do they hide
something?
Or are they
perhaps a
place of repose,
separate from
your everyday
life?
SEAN
PERRY:
I suppose
they reveal
everything...for
better or
worse, I just
don’t
have an off
switch or
filter—I
don’t
hold anything
back, whatever
I am is here.
I’m
restless.
I never learned
to separate
myself from
what I do.
I’m
full of yearning
and the images
I make don't
escape my
obsession
between feelings
of wonder
and wish. |
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Risk |
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GREG
WAKABAYASHI:
I recall Miles
Davis was once
asked why he
didn’t
continue to
play more ballads
later in his
career, to which
he replied,
“Because
I know I am
good at them.”
The message
being that he
wanted to challenge
himself. Your
work from Transitory
to Fairgrounds
exhibits a very
consistent visual
aesthetic and
you are clearly
good at it.
Do you see continuing
that path for
some time or
are there are
other visual
directions you
are thinking
of exploring?
SEAN PERRY:
I like
to play with
color and magazines
have been the
perfect venue
for that. Jody
Quon and Leana
Alagia at New
York magazine
have given me
great assignments.
I trust my love
affair with
light and atmosphere
will always
transcend my
conscious decisions,
regardless of
the directions
I pursue. The
continuing challenge
for me is how
to best serve
the story and
series I’m
engaged in—to
render an earnest
aesthetic. Beyond
Fairgrounds,
I am working
on two New York
themes, Gotham
and an architectural
theme that I’ve
given the working
title of Monolith.
Are they a departure
or continuation?
The trick is
to make them
in a sense autonomous,
beyond my influence. |
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Up
the Ladder
Down |
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GREG
WAKABAYASHI:
Plate number
eight is named
“Zira’s
Dream.”
Who is Zira?
SEAN PERRY:
It’s
a beautiful
name, isn’t
it? She was
the chimpanzee
scientist in
Planet of the
Apes. The titles
in Fairgrounds
are clues to
where my childhood
imagination
began—the
place where
I discovered
dreams. I think
of nostalgia
as wistful for
what is past.
This series
isn’t
about relics
of what was
lost, rather
metaphors of
what is still
here, what I
carry with me,
what I don’t
want to forget. |
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Zira's
Dream |
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Mousetrap |
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The
Mariachi
We Met |
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The
Lost Midway |
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GREG
WAKABAYASHI
is the award-winning
art director
of Welcome
Books in
New York City.
Among the many
and varied books
he has designed
are titles by
Richard Avedon,
Amy Arbus and
Douglas Kirkland.
Fairgrounds
photographs
by Sean
Perry A new
exhibition of
19 large scale,
toned gelatin
silver prints
from the series
Numbered &
Signed Limited
Edition Catalog
designed by
Jace
Graf
& published
by Cloverleaf
Press
including a
foreword by
Clint
Willour,
Curator, Galveston
Arts Center
& afterword
conversation
with Gregory
Wakabayashi,
Art Director,
Welcome Books,
New York City.
Opening
Reception Saturday,
September 6,
2008 6-9 p.m.
Stephen L. Clark
Gallery, Austin,
Texas.
www.SeanPerry.com
www.FairgroundsBook.com
www.TransitoryBook.com
Fairgrounds
Limited Edition
Catalog is available
through the
Stephen L. Clark
Gallery
Transitory –
The Abstract
is available
directly from
the publisher
and photo-eye
books.
Cloverleaf
Press
512.494.9596
1906 Miriam
Avenue
Austin, TX 78722
photo-eye
Bookstore
800.227.6941
370 Garcia Street
Santa Fe, NM
87501
Prints are available
through the
gallery.
Stephen
L. Clark Gallery
512.477.0828
1101 West 6th
Street
Austin, TX 78703 |
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