San Diego Art Guide October 26, 2011
"Bodie, CA". Silver Gelatin Photograph. 11"x14".
Glas Haus
1815 Main Street, Bldg B, Barrio Logan
Open: Saturdays, 10-4PM
Showing: October 1st-31st, 2011
The bleakness of an abandoned Northern California mining town, Bodie, is captured by photographer Jen Jansen in a series of tintype photographs entitled “Time in Decay” – currently on display at Device Gallery.
6 of the 19 photographs are pinned into 6 small wooden boxes at the entrance of the gallery, with creaky doors that open and close. Jansen encourages you to interact with the boxes, discovering the hidden depths of the ghost town.
Gold was discovered in Bodie in 1859, and the population grew to almost 10,000 in next 30 years. As the hill’s resources depleted and the illicit entertainment grew, Bodie became a place of gunfights and saloons. In 1915, Bodie was declared a “ghost town” and in 1962 was designated as a National Historic Site and a State Historic Park.
The interiors of homes had “subtle signs of the distress” says Jansen. Tin plates and cups were set-up on a dining room table with overturned chairs laying around it, as though the family had to leave very quickly. Layers of dry highland dirt covered everything, from floorboards to the curtains. Time seems to have stood still.
The method that Jansen uses to expose these scenes was developed at about the same time that gold was discovered in Bodie, over 150 years ago. The process is much more involved than taking a i-phone photo, and requires Jansen to take a darkroom along with her.
Before taking any photograph, she must treat the metal plate and then immerse it into a silver nitrate bath for 5 minutes. After exposing the plate to the scene for a few seconds, she must then return to the darkroom to develop the image. The result of this hard work are photographs that truly capture the forgotten spirit of the town, transforming the viewer into that history.
“A walk through Bodie feels like a walk through the past” Jansen explains. And like Bodie, her tintype photographs are unique explorations into history that will never fade.
Jansen also takes portraits and restores damaged photographs. When I visited her studio to see a demonstration of the process, I was intrigued by the portraits that were aligned on metal in horizontal rows. Many of the figures were not smiling (teeth look weird in a tintype), and this refocused my attention away from the mouth and to the eyes. In so many modern portraits the eyes are often under appreciated (mine are often red), but Jansen highlights them, enlivening her subjects and their personalities.
For your own unique portrait or to see more of her work, visit jenjansenphoto.com or on facebook.
Glas Haus
1815 Main Street, Bldg B, Barrio Logan
Open: Saturdays, 10-4PM
Showing: October 1st-31st, 2011
The bleakness of an abandoned Northern California mining town, Bodie, is captured by photographer Jen Jansen in a series of tintype photographs entitled “Time in Decay” – currently on display at Device Gallery.
6 of the 19 photographs are pinned into 6 small wooden boxes at the entrance of the gallery, with creaky doors that open and close. Jansen encourages you to interact with the boxes, discovering the hidden depths of the ghost town.
Gold was discovered in Bodie in 1859, and the population grew to almost 10,000 in next 30 years. As the hill’s resources depleted and the illicit entertainment grew, Bodie became a place of gunfights and saloons. In 1915, Bodie was declared a “ghost town” and in 1962 was designated as a National Historic Site and a State Historic Park.
The interiors of homes had “subtle signs of the distress” says Jansen. Tin plates and cups were set-up on a dining room table with overturned chairs laying around it, as though the family had to leave very quickly. Layers of dry highland dirt covered everything, from floorboards to the curtains. Time seems to have stood still.
The method that Jansen uses to expose these scenes was developed at about the same time that gold was discovered in Bodie, over 150 years ago. The process is much more involved than taking a i-phone photo, and requires Jansen to take a darkroom along with her.
Before taking any photograph, she must treat the metal plate and then immerse it into a silver nitrate bath for 5 minutes. After exposing the plate to the scene for a few seconds, she must then return to the darkroom to develop the image. The result of this hard work are photographs that truly capture the forgotten spirit of the town, transforming the viewer into that history.
“A walk through Bodie feels like a walk through the past” Jansen explains. And like Bodie, her tintype photographs are unique explorations into history that will never fade.
Jansen also takes portraits and restores damaged photographs. When I visited her studio to see a demonstration of the process, I was intrigued by the portraits that were aligned on metal in horizontal rows. Many of the figures were not smiling (teeth look weird in a tintype), and this refocused my attention away from the mouth and to the eyes. In so many modern portraits the eyes are often under appreciated (mine are often red), but Jansen highlights them, enlivening her subjects and their personalities.
For your own unique portrait or to see more of her work, visit jenjansenphoto.com or on facebook.
