Barbara Ess
Barbara Ess | |
---|---|
Brooklyn, New York City, US | |
Died | March 4, 2021 | (aged 76)
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Michigan London School of Film Technique |
Known for | large-scale pinhole photography post-punk music |
Awards | National Endowment for the Arts Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation |
Barbara Ess (born Barbara Eileen Schwartz; April 4, 1944 – March 4, 2021)
Education
Ess earned a B.A. at the University of Michigan and attended the London School of Film Technique.[2]
Photography
Barbara Ess was known primarily for her large-scale ambient and shadowy photographs that were often made with a pinhole camera. They usually were printed with just one earthy color, such as amber, or muted blue-black. They are shown internationally in solo and group exhibitions and reviewed extensively.
Her images are intentionally left vague and unresolved. As such, they initiate a range of emotions from dream anxiety and helplessness, to being captivated by a fantasy and the romantic aesthetic quality of her old-fashioned pinhole method.[3] Her pictures hark back to the nineteenth-century approach to fine-art photography known as Pictorialism and to the well-known amateur photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. The Pictorialists and Cameron often included nature, women, and children as subject matter, creating tableau vivant imagery that evoked moody, open-ended narratives.
Of her intent as a photographer, Ess said "In a way I try to photograph what cannot be photographed."[4]
She received grants from LINE, Creative Artists Public Service Program, and Kitchen Media, and fellowships from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (photography).
She taught photography at Bard College since 1997.
Music
Ess performed and recorded
Editorial work: Just Another Asshole
Just Another Asshole was a no wave mixed media publication project launched from the Lower East Side of Manhattan from 1978 to 1987.[2] Barbara Ess organized and edited seven issues of Just Another Asshole, which formed thanks to an open, collaborative submission process.[6] Issues 3 and 4 were co-edited by Jane Sherry and issues 5 through 7 were co-edited by Glenn Branca. Issue formats include: zine, LP record, large format tabloid, magazine, exhibition catalog, and paperback book.[7]
Collections
Ess' work is in the collections of the
Bibliography
- I Am Not This Body: The Pinhole Photographs of Barbara Ess by Guy Armstrong, Michael Cunningham, Thurston Moore and Barbara Ess (June 15, 2005)
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Hendrich, Will (March 9, 2021). "Barbara Ess, 76, Dies; Artist Blurred Lines Between Life and Art". New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Barbara Ess (1948–2021)". Artforum. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- ^ I am Not This Body: The Pinhole Photographs of Barbara Ess by Guy Armstrong, Michael Cunningham, Thurston Moore and Barbara Ess (June 15, 2005)
- ^ Andrea Karnes,"Barbara Ess," Camera Austria 27 (October 1988): 17
- ^ "Ultra Vulva". ultravulva.com. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
- ISBN 9780870707711.
- ISBN 9780262015196.
References
- Andrea Karnes, "Barbara Ess," Camera Austria 27 (October 1988): 17
- Carlo McCormick, "The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene, 1974–1984", Princeton University Press, 2006
External links
- Barbara Ess discography at Discogs
- Barbara Ess at IMDb
- [1] Barbara Ess (with Barbara Barg) - You Who Know No Pain (7:07) track on Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine #1