jay lansford

about the artist

I am a photographer.  I am an artist.

I was born in the Show Me state where I fittingly earned my photography degree.  After college, I traveled the country working various jobs in various cities and picking up many interesting stories and experiences along the way.  While not professionally pursuing photography at that time, I never stopped being a photographer.  I continued planning and building contraptions, experimenting with photos and lighting, working with both darkrooms and Photoshop, and subjecting my friends to shoots in the basement.  Now that my wandering is behind me, I have settled in Minneapolis where I am devoted full-force to photography.

Visit Jay Lansford's website.

about his show at pure wood pure art

I take two types of photographs.  The first is represented in six simple and straightforward images presented here.  Each shot depicts not only time and place, but depicts me in a particular time and place.  I selected and handled each image to present not just a simple snapshot of reality, but to represent my personal experiences in the way that my own eye sees them and my own mind interprets them.  With these images I offer the viewer a glimpse into my vision of my world.

The second type of photograph is what I plainly refer to as “projects”.   They allow me to create what I want to see, not just re-create what I have already observed and experienced.  These projects have inspired me to construct installations, invent new photographic processes, build contraptions, and digitally composite elements.  Through these images I can explore my ideals, feelings, philosophies, ruminations and fancies.   Two such projects are represented here and described as such:

How We Hold series brings to mind antique anatomy drawings which examined how the internal workings of the body affect the external experience of the body.  I chose to examine the opposing direction: external foreign objects affecting the experience of the body.  In the spirit of Doblerism, other details are up to the viewer to decipher to their own meaning.

“Bones (working title)” (2008)  This photograph is the first of an ongoing project exploring what may be considered the most masculine of body parts: shoulders.  This narrow strip is one that carries muscle, yet will deceive the perspective of going to tallow.  It can depict brawn, pride, confidence, and strength; attributes of masculinity.  Shoulders are also a naturally sensual body part- not requiring hours at the gym to appear discernibly masculine.