{"id":1158,"date":"2012-08-01T15:53:50","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T19:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/?p=1158"},"modified":"2012-08-02T10:24:02","modified_gmt":"2012-08-02T14:24:02","slug":"palmer-davis-a-storyteller-with-a-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/?p=1158","title":{"rendered":"Palmer Davis ~ A Storyteller with a lens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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"Traces" \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "American Stories")<\/p><\/div>\n

I first met Palmer Davis<\/a> in November of 2010 when I took his \u201cStranger than Fiction\u201d class at ICP<\/a>. \u00a0At that time I sensed the need to recharge my creative batteries and be in a group setting again. \u00a0My decision to take the class proved to be one of the best things I\u2019ve ever did. \u00a0From day one I was both awed and inspired by Palmer\u2019s incredible insight, knowledge and thoughtfulness. \u00a0Not only did the class reenergize me but, more importantly, it opened up an entire new approach to photographing.<\/p>\n

Palmer exudes an excitement about life in general and photography in particular. \u00a0He is a terrific teacher, a wonderful person and a talented photographer. \u00a0Since 2011 I had the honor to assist Palmer in four other classes at ICP and have enjoyed these experiences profoundly.<\/p>\n

Palmer has shown great interest and faith in my photographic endeavors.\u00a0 \u00a0 He has also encouraged me to explore my own teaching capabilities. \u00a0I consider him my mentor and am truly grateful for all his support. \u00a0I recommend wholeheartedly his classes! \u00a0Take one \u2013 it might just change your life for the better!<\/p>\n

About Palmer Davis Photography<\/a>:<\/p>\n

There is a magic realism to Palmer\u2019s imagery which has more to do with a sense of wonder then irony. \u00a0It\u2019s a sensibility based in an innate appreciation of beauty and a genuine joie de vivre. <\/em>\u00a0Palmer\u2019s photographs contemplate everyday moments by framing what makes these moments come to be in a given instance. \u00a0He is a keen visual anthropologist and his images work like landscapes of cultural detritus.\u00a0 Palmer finds a Zen in it all and\u00a0as he states his\u00a0 \u201cpictures evoke a sense of place and time and tell a story.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s being in the right place at the right time, but most importantly being somewhere when the light is just right and enchanting. \u00a0Palmer\u2019s work, much like Edward Hopper\u2019s, though based in reality comes across as if a reverie. \u00a0His curiosity about the world around him, and I mean the entire<\/em> world, drives him to explore near and far.\u00a0 And throughout he notices things and moments that delight him and capture his imagination. \u00a0His photographs are like visual chapters of compelling stories about a variety of things, both archetypal and mythical, that form our immediate realities. \u00a0The common thread among his many projects is the use of color and the sensual lushness he brings out in almost any given subject matter. \u00a0There is also a wonderful sense of play not just of the visual elements but also in the way his imagery beckons us to look for clues in it. Palmer\u2019s imagery at first glance might seem straightforward but in fact it is quite complex and subtly mysterious.<\/p>\n

In \u201cTraces\u201d appearances are suspect: \u00a0though we are offered a glimpse to an inside of a space (perhaps a storefront?), we cannot get beyond what the glass window reflects back \u2013 the gable ends of stately, Victorian brick buildings, an old-fashioned looking lamp post, tree tops and the skies above. \u00a0On closer examination some things inside do reveal themselves: the delicately ornate tin ceiling, couple of thin pipes running parallel to it, the wall\u2019s wainscoting paneling \u00a0and a hanging planter. \u00a0The planter appears plastic and echoes the wall\u2019s vertical motifs; a geranium like plant spreads out its flowery stems. \u00a0What are the \u2018traces\u2019 referred to in the title? \u00a0Since the image is part of the \u201cAmerican Stories\u201d project and the reflection in it suggests an urban atmosphere, albeit one from early XX century, the title seems to conjure up themes from \u201cOur Town\u201d by Thornton Wilder. \u201cTraces\u201d perhaps refers to a way of life that once was or at least our fantasy of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cRooftop View\u201d places the viewer in the figure of a woman in a sari.\u00a0 Her back is towards us and we assume she\u2019s looking up at a group of young girls sitting or standing next to each other on a rooftop of a strange brick building.\u00a0 The woman\u2019s figure directs our own gaze upwards and we wonder about her relationship to the group beyond her reach. This is a bewitchingly splendid image. Part of the \u201cIn the Mystical Realm of Color,\u201d it is just pure pleasure to look at \u2013 the composition, the colors and the subject matter all work together harmoniously.<\/p>\n

As the sheer visual beauty sets in, questions about it abound.\u00a0 Suddenly the photograph is a puzzle.\u00a0 It suggests illusions and notions of inside\/outside dichotomies.\u00a0 The woman in the foreground is not part of the group on the rooftop.\u00a0 Whether she desires to be part of it or not remains a mystery and the visual clues don\u2019t seem to imply either way.\u00a0 In fact should the color and the wonderful light about it get stripped away, the reality it portraits might appear harsh.\u00a0 The rooftop is part of a larger structure that looks inhospitable with couple of window openings bricked over and the entire fa\u00e7ade unfinished and worn. \u00a0With this in mind the group of girls now seems contained, cornered almost without the means to freely go outside.\u00a0 The woman with her back to us also seems to be unable to move forward.\u00a0 In the back of her there is a pile of bricks strewn about and in front of her lie twisted tree limbs \u2013 a subtle metaphor for being stuck between a rock and a hard place. What appears to be a door to a possible courtyard leading \u00a0to where the girls are seems almost painted on, a mirage of accessibility.\u00a0 As Palmer has stated about this project and his travels throughout India \u201c\u2026in this ancient land, it was the intoxicating power of color that marked the way \u2013 luring me down a rabbit hole to a magical world of intense beauty and wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palmer Davis\u2019 work is like a fine E.M.Forster novel that is hard to put down and looking at his images gives us a room with a view to a dream.\u00a0\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Monika\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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"Beer and Cigarettes" \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "American Stories")<\/p><\/div>\n

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"Superheroes" \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "Days of Summer")<\/p><\/div>\n

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"Magic Sky" \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "Lost Highway")<\/p><\/div>\n

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Party Ballons \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "American Stories")<\/p><\/div>\n

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Clothesline \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "Days of Summer")<\/p><\/div>\n

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"Off Season" \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "Off Season")<\/p><\/div>\n

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"Wharf" \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "Off Season")<\/p><\/div>\n

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"Red Sari" \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "In the Mystical Realm of Color")<\/p><\/div>\n

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"Rooftop View" \u00a9 Palmer Davis (from "In the Mystycal Realm of Color")<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a><\/div>
Twitter<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I first met Palmer Davis in November of 2010 when I took his \u201cStranger than Fiction\u201d class at ICP. \u00a0At that time I sensed the need to recharge my creative batteries and be in a group setting again. \u00a0My decision to take the class proved to be one of the best things I\u2019ve ever did. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[26,39],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1158"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1204,"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158\/revisions\/1204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monikaphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}