Tema Stauffer Interview

Jacob (Red Brick Alley) © Tema Stauffer

Head over to Tema's blog PlamAire to read an interview with her conducted by Pratt student Alex Segreti. You can also revisit our conversation with Tema, by clicking here.
The two interviews compliment each other nicely.
You can currently see Tema 's work at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York - through April 18, 2009.

A Conversation with Toni Pepe

© Toni Pepe

“It’s my dream. A world where all would be silent and each thing in its last place, under the last dust.” -Samuel Beckett, Endgame”

I met Toni Pepe in between portfolio reviews at last year’s SPE Mid-Atlantic Northeast Conference in Woodstock. We became fast friends and kept winning awards together at SPE Conferences. (Always a plus!)

Her series, “Angle of Repose” has a cinematic and dramatic quality that emphasizes on questions rather than answers. Toni has exhibited widely in the US and currently has a solo exhibition at The Center for Photography at Woodstock through January 11, 2009.

© Toni Pepe

Absence and presence is a recurring theme within this series, implying that each image works to reference something beyond the frame. Photography best portrays this thematic approach since by nature; photographs possess a fundamental quality of absence. All of the elements within the frame—the props, costumes and gestures prompt the notion and tangibility of loss and memory. If we had never met could I still have a memory of you? Can we make present something that is absent?

NP: Tell us a little about yourself.

TP: I grew up in the Boston area and recently moved back after being away for about 7 years. I studied English and Visual Art at Michigan State University during my undergraduate career. In April of 2008 I received an MFA in Imaging Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Graduate school really gave me the time and space to figure out where I fit in within the medium of photography; it allowed me to recognize that I could combine my passion for literature and writing with visual art.

© Toni Pepe

A variety of performative devices from theater, cinema, and literature reconstruct visions and moments experienced within the walls of the character’s mind. References to memory are embedded in her gestures and body language. Though the poses are appropriated from family photographs, at the same time they evoke the classical and art historical. Recurring motifs such as dust suggest the past, calling to mind the idea of remains and decay.

NP: How did you discover photography?

TP: I took my first photography course (Photojournalism I) during my sophomore year at MSU. I had always wanted to take a photo class, but put it off because I was more involved with writing and literature. It may sound cliché, but I absolutely fell in love with photo after that first day of class. I knew that it was something I wanted to pursue, so I started interning at a local newspaper and spent the majority of my time shooting or in the dark room. I went on to take a photo course every semester before I graduated. Even though, I enjoyed photo class, I didn’t really connect with my job at the newspaper – in fact, I grew to really dislike going on assignments and felt that there had to be more to this medium. I don’t think I figured out what that was until I was out of school and started to experiment on my own – away from all the categories photo seems to be put into (photojournalism, fine art photo, nature photography, commercial, etc.).


© Toni Pepe

NP: Where do you discover photography?

TP: Each project I start is never a complete departure from my earlier work. I tend to draw a lot from the personal – the family album, old clothing, the mannerisms of friends and family, identity as it relates to the narratives of my relatives. I also pull from broader, more universal material like advertising, literature, television/movies. I think the foundation of all of my work, however, is a need for tangibility – I surround myself with objects from the past – objects with a sense of history, it’s comforting in a way.


© Toni Pepe

NP: How do your projects come about?

TP: I tend to work with a certain core of ideas and I don’t think I’ve ever really considered a series done. When I stop shooting one particular series and move onto something else – I move on, but I never really leave anything behind. Similar ideas and aesthetics may be carried to a new series, but I always try to push myself beyond what I did prior. Usually, I’ll sketch out an idea (typically a drawing so poorly rendered only I really know what it is) and once I start shooting the elements will either fall into place or not – that will usually lead me to something new or keep me on the track I started on in the first place.


© Toni Pepe

NP: What’s next?

TP: Right now, I am working on a series that explores familial history – identity as it relates to one’s nationality/heritage and one’s name. I am drawing from the aesthetic of the miniature and illuminated manuscripts –which give a concentrated amount of information/narrative in a typically tiny amount of space. I like the idea of the compact – fitting identity into a name or a symbol – squeezing it into a frame of a photograph, etc.

NP: Thank you very much, Toni!

To see more of Toni's work, check her website at www.tonipepe.com. She is also a contributor to an art critique blog, Art is Hard.

She currently is in a solo exhibition at The Center for Photography at Woodstock through January 11, 2009. She is also the Northeast Exposure Online's Artist of the month at the Photographic Resource Center.

Olivia Arthur Conversation @ Magnum

Head over to the Magnum blog to a read a conversation with 28 year old Brit Olivia Arthur who is a magnum nominees this year. She has been working on "a long-term project about women and the east-west cultural divide". You can see more of her work here.

The Girl Project: A Conversation

© The Girl Project

The talented Dina Kantor recently made us aware of the ongoing The Girl Project --"A national collection of photographs taken by teenage girls. The photographs represent teenage girlhood and life as seen through the eyes of young women in America", states the project's website.
Reminiscent of projects such as "Kids With Camera" and "Through The Eyes of Children - The Rwanda Project", this project however gives viewers a unique look at girlhood in America today and encourages and empowers girls to express themselves and take ownership.


© The Girl Project

The project intrigued us and made us curious about who is behind the idea. The Girl Project is spearheaded by New York based photographer Kate Engelbrecht, who took the time to answer a few questions for us:

NP: Tell us a little about yourself.
KE: I am from Minnesota originally. I grew up in Northern MN but have lived in NYC for the past 10 years. After college I didn't have a clue what to do with myself. I had majored in sociology and was not interested in a career in academia, so I moved to NYC and started working in advertising. Shortly after I learned I didn't want to work in advertising.

NP: How did you discover photography?
KE: It was at the ad agency I worked for. While I was quickly becoming uninterested in advertising I was even faster falling in love with photography. I bought a used Minolta with a 50mm lens for $150 and started shooting. It is still my favorite camera.

NP: How did this project come about?
KE: I had been toying with the idea for some time - looking for a way to blend two things that interest me (photography and girlhood). At some point I realized that the opportunity was bigger than just examining female adolescence through photography... and that it could also be a way to understand girls in an entirely new way. I figured why not go to the source - why not let the subject speak for herself.

NP: What would you consider to be the ideal venue to show an exhibit of these images you are collecting and curating?
KE: Great question. And I'm torn between two answers. One is institutional, by where my dream is to see The Girl Project on exhibit at ICP, Mass MoCA or The Walker. The other is to make it more approachable... more accessible... and get Target to sponsor a traveling exhibition in their stores.

NP: Thanks so much! We are much looking forward to seeing how the project progresses.


The Girl Project also has a blog: thegirlprojectblog.blogspot.com

Maria Passarotti Interview

And if you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at our Maria Passarotti interview, here.

Colberg Interviews Van Meene

Check out this excellent conversation between Joerg Colberg and Hellen Van Meene (and some of her new work).