(LENOX, Mass.) – iMotif, an exhibit of iPhone photography featuring 75 artists and over 350 photographs, is on view Sohn Fine Art Gallery in Lenox, with a reception on Sat, Feb 20, 4-7pm; and at the Gallery at Hotel on North in Pittsfield (February 2 – March 2). Different work is exhibited at each location.

“The best camera is the one you have with you!” With this quote, photographer Chase Jarvis underscores the idea that a great photograph is measured by more than its resolution or dynamic range, it’s measured by the simple, and sometimes profound, other times absurd, provocative, humorous, whimsical or beautiful, effect that it can have on us. iMotif re-imagines and re-defines the intersection of photography, social media and popular culture through images shot with iPhones. Utilizing the incredible range of apps available, each piece is unique and many beg the question “How did they do that?”

In this modern age of photography, where everything can be instantly captured, viewed, processed, shared and discussed, the photographic image is being immersed into our society in a revolutionary way. The impact of the instant image, for both the photographer and the viewer, has changed the way we think of, and interact with, imaging and the world around us. From Instagram and Facebook, to Twitter, Cloud and print, the act of documenting our lives and seizing the moment is breaking down the walls of “personal”, opening up an immediate, and intimate, look into each other’s lives.

On initial view, the exhibition reads like Instagram feeds – each image working off of the other, telling a story, provoking a guttural emotional response. Step in closer and treasures from every genre of photography are revealed, from street scenes and landscapes to abstracts and composites. A sort of photographic journal, the work is created by amateur to professional photographers from regions as far England and Hawaii.

Bobbie Crosby’s pieces are fantastical narratives created from multiple photographs, manipulated and layered into jovial composites that resemble Chagall’s paintings. John Atchley’s abstract work conjures Rothko and Yves Klein as he creates both softness and tension through what he calls “distillations”, where he breaks the scenes down to basic elements such as color, shape, balance, depth, composition, and scale. Daniel Karp, Gregory Crewdson’s Camera Operator, and extraordinary photographer in his own right, presents mysteriously nostalgic black and white scenes of old lovers, an empty parking lot and portraits without the people.

Master iPhone photographer and painter John Clarke combines the two mediums in four large scale abstract pieces. The painterly images feature multiple long exposures of birch trees, autumn woods and a pond. Once printed, they are hand-worked with pastels and pencil, creating soft, impressionistic qualities. Clarke will be teaching an iPhone photography workshop February 26, 27 and 28 at Sohn Fine Art, and will cover most of the apps seen in the iMotif Exhibition.

The gallery’s owner and photographer, Cassandra Sohn, presents work photographed at Auschwitz and Birkenau, Poland. Twenty photographs hang laced through five metal chains that are looped around piping in the gallery. They are weighted to the floor with tension and cascade in towards the center of the room in a formal line formation, mimicking the order, chaos and lack of freedom that existed in both locations during the holocaust. Behind the chains is a coffin-like pipe chamber with snapshot size photos of personal belongings collected from the victims before they were sent to the gas chamber.

The exhibition was curated by Cassandra Sohn (owner & director at Sohn Fine Art), John Clarke (artist and iPhone photographer extraordinaire) and Jenna Gazaille (assistant gallery director at Sohn Fine Art). In conjunction with the exhibition, John Clarke will teach an iPhone Photography Workshop February 26, 27 and 28. Students can sign up for the workshop at Sohn Fine Art, and can attend one, two, or all three days.

 

Artist in the exhibition include:

Dario Acosta, Lynne M. Anstett, David Arky, Bart Arnold, John Atchley, Katherine Ayars, Denise B. Chandler, May Beattie, David Benson, Steve Blanchard, Michael Brahce, Peggy Braun, John Clarke, Chuck Colonair, Janet Cooper, Bobbie Crosby, Jillian Culver, Mark D. Phillips, Catherine Delphia, Michele Disimone, David Edgecomb, Gene Elling, Karen Farkas, Diane Firtell, Damon Futterman, Damien Gaudet, Sarah Gaudet, Jenna Gazaille, Susan Geller, Jane Goodrich, Alexa Green, Martin Greene, Tristan L. Greene, Brenda Hall, Erin Hines, Liz Hogan, Gina Hyams, Daniel Karp, Kurtis Kimball, Faye Lee Baker, Marlena Leonard, Whitney Letters, Eric Levin, Sharon Lips, Chris Martin, Julia Matejcek, Leo Mazzeo, Scott Miller, Diana Nicholette Jeon, Fay O’meara, Doane Perry, Jan Petitjean, Elizabeth Petty, Hildy Pincus Kronen, Marcia Powdermaker, John Prusinski, Laurieann Quiry, Peggy Reeves, Cynthia Richards, Terry Rosen, Claudia Ruiz-Gustafson, Jim Schantz, Jedidiah Shields, Kendra Smallwood, Cassandra Sohn, Hope Sullivan, Joan Sussman, Terri Szablewski, Jamie Trie, Candice Washington, Eleanor Windman, Vicki Windman, Kari Zinser