The beauty in Thomas Allen's images comes from two angles: firstly, he carefully cuts images from books and stands them up, making little dramas come to life atop piles of old volumes. The books themselves are characters in the unfolding stories. Secondly, he photographs them with an artist's eye, using light like paint and short depth of field to heighten the pulpy melodramatic scenes he seems to lean towards. They're witty, delicate -- in contrast to the often macho scenes depicted -- and well-crafted. It's one of the most exciting bodies of work I've seen in a long while.
Upshot, 2002Old books are the ordinary objects I use in my photographs. These beautiful volumes with scarred and wrinkled covers, discolored pages, and fragile spines are not precious commodities that should be stored on a shelf, but actors waiting for direction. Cutting pages with a knife forms characters. They are brought to life by pulling the severed parts outward—wire, tape, and other tricks help to hold their place in front of the camera. “Good” light emphasizes drama and a shallow lens focus simulates depth—mimicking the third dimension. Scenes are captured on film and the resulting photographs are picture books that tell stories without words. In “Recover,” castaways drift atop the very thing that documents their ordeal, and a boxer’s own shadow becomes his opponent in “Spar.” The book is no longer something to be looked through. It must be looked at. This is my new obsession.
Recover, 2003Virginia Quarterly Review
Foley Gallery
Thomas Barry Fine Arts
2 comments:
Wow. That's pretty cool. In fact, a lot of the time the cover art is much more interesting than the story within.
I see hundreds of those old books come through the store. Usually they end up on the discount table, for 3 for a dollar. I should start sidetracking the ones with the more interesting covers...
Yes, books are great art material. Some years ago I made a sculpture of a television out of old hard covers I ran through a band saw. I felt kind of bad cutting them up, but it was worth it in the end. The old hard cover novels are very pretty in their funny, fuzzy way.
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