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artist's statement of ____________richard lotman brown
I shoot with joy and purpose, balancing intuition with technical conscientiousness. My goal is to make simple, clear and accessible statements, illuminating unnoticed grace and form. I feel rewarded when I am able to discover and record compositional harmony and symmetry, from oftentimes, unlikely settings. One of my favorite pieces was captured in the middle of a junk pile. This perspective gives me hope, during lifeÕs challenges, and the additional reward to be able to share those points of view. In limited editions, pictures are printed, digitally, on archival paper, with the intent to preserve the integrity of the cameraÕs initial image.
Career Highlights
· ABC’s Extreme Makeover, Network Home Design Show · Black& White Magazine (2 issues) · Black& White Magazine Online Gallery, Currently Featured (2 issues) · International Photography Awards, Abstract · International Photography Awards, Americana · International Photography Awards, Architecture · International Photography Awards, Children · Kemper Contemporary Museum · KC Studio Magazine, Regular Feature · National MagazinePublication (Over Twenty Issues) · Palm Beach Photographic Centre, 10th Anniversary Cover · Photography Masters Cup, Two Categories · Photographic Society of America Honors · PSA International Exhibit · Sprint Corporate Collection · White House Collection
Within the Shadows and the Light Richard Lotman Brown --- LightBox Gallery --- September 7-October 18th Ed Frazier, REVIEW MAGAZINE In describing his work, Richard Lotman Brown refers to making a connection with his childhood and adulthood, and then translating the accompanying feelings of sorrow and joy. "The sadness comes from having youthful, pristine discoveries tarnished. Then, the enrichment comes from finding more evolved views. These impressions celebrate the elements of the initial purity, which have endured as well as the harshness, giving them fresh meaning and new detail." The purity and the harshness come through in the photographs featured in Brown's new show, Shapes of Desire, Shadows of Hope, on display at LightBox Gallery. The desire is expressed through Brown's close attention to structural form and patterns. ("I've had architects tell me that I've discovered details they didn't know existed in their own buildings," Brown said). Hope emerges from deft combinations of austere light and bold shadows. Consisting of predominantly black and 0white images, along with a few brief but memorable excursions into color, the images communicate a strong sense of clarity. The essentially geometric subjects -- public, residential and commercial structures -- are captured from what appears to be a markedly pointed perspective. Yet, the directness and sincerity they suggest comes through in ways that are alternately subtle and spirited. The more refined pieces point to precise details in modern (Light Shadows, Metropolitan Shadows) and post-modern (Triangle Shadow, Fed @ Night) architecture. The attitude then shifts to compositions that are quietly glib, a fire escape and its busy shadow interwoven against a brick building (XYZ); two simple, round red candies casting symmetrical shadows (Soft Red Shadows I); a brightly lit arbor that muddles the distinction between subject and shadow (Kafka Shadows), and the dark silhouette of a rectangular street sign cast onto an otherwise common storefront (Waiting for a Sign). The collection seems at home in the LightBox space. The gallery's stark, minimalist design provides the personalities of these precise images with a unfettered venue where they can emerge on their own. Brown has succeeded in finding inspiring perspectives and engaging pleasures in subjects and settings that are ostensibly limited. In doing so, he's captured images that hold surprises lurking beneath and peaking out between shadows and light. Ed Frazier is a freelance writer who teaches English at Rockhurst University
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