Amy Lovera
Amy Lovera Study-Zoe Rose.pdf Full PDF of my research blog
As I was first going through the surrealist genre on lens scratched, Amy Lovera’s work was one of the first pieces that crossed my eye. Apon first look, she uses an analog method of photography and seemed to use a particular chemical process to give the final result look like a black and white silhouette. but not only that, the contrast between black and white isn’t too harsh as there are shades of grey in different parts of the photo and more so gives the figures and shapes a ghostly appearance. After looking at her other works, she has some more traditional photography pieces, however, what ties all her series is that they seem to tell or evoke some story of story to the audience. This is emphasized with her statements when talking, not just about this series, but her overall work. Her “Securing Shadows” series has been showing in many different exhibitions like in the Institution of Contemporary Art and even in other exhibitions in different countries. the specific method she uses is silver gelatin photography which is good for black and white pictures, however, with the chemical process and her use of light sensitive paper, causes this ghostly visage as the photo becomes overexposed.
“Luna” Silver Gelation Photography, 50x42
“The Days Are Long” Silver Gelation Photography, 42x50
This emphasis of this style is enhanced with the overall message and motifs of her pieces relating to memory, especially her experience as a mother and seeing her children grow and those times when her children were younger being past memories know. Another reason why a lot of her pieces involve some sort of child like element, like toys or pictures of children playing. A particular piece of hers that reflect these elements is a piece from her “Securing Shadows” series “Paloma” 42 to 32 inches that depicts a young girl running in the grass while holding a stuffed rabbit and chasing a bird. On top of that, with the aforementioned technique to give it an illusion of a ghostly image. Not to mention, how the elements are put together look like something out of a picture book. As mentioned before, she likes to tell a story with her photography and uses her images to imply what is happening with very little to no dialog. For example, her other series like “Girl and Bird Detective Agency” which tells a story of a girl and a bird who solve a mystery and feels very much like a children’s picture book. Then there is her series “The Anomaly of Wishes” that tells a story of a woman who finds a book left by her mother talking about how wishes do come true and the mothers study and experimentation with this theory.
“Paloma” Silver Gelatine Photography, 42x32
After looking at her pieces, this series specifically, it makes me think of experimenting more with my mediums as it may result in an interesting piece of art work. I often find myself feeling stagnant when I am doing a particular art for too long, so experimenting with a new method or medium might do me some good for me and my overall art. On top of that, I might need to study more on photography and especially the chemical processing that goes into burning the image. While I know there is a chemical process that goes into to putting the image on a Polaroid and such, I am not completely sure of how that said process is meant to look like, especially for this class.
Breault, Douglas. “Amy Lovera in Conversation with Douglas Breault.” Lens Scratch, Fine Arts, Photography Daily. January 23,2024
https://lenscratch.com/2024/01/amy-lovera-in- conversation-with-douglas-breault/. September 1, 2024.
Lovera, Amy. “Securing Shadows” AmyLovera.com. https://www.amylovera.com/artwork-1/project-one-ephnc-zt86d. September 1, 2024.
“Amy Lovera”. Spenational.org. Society for Photographic Education. https://www.spenational.org/members/amy-lovera. September 2, 2024