© 2005 Caleb Charland, Three Jars
silver gelatin (24” x 20”)
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I feel that art making is a journey. It is an experience that begins in one mind and is destined for the minds of many.
Caleb Charland
Caleb Charland uses traditional black and white photographic processes with a 4” x 5” view camera using various sources of light such as clamp lights or flashes. His subjects demand hours of concentration as he studies and arranges the objects to a perfected composition. The resulting work is intended to evoke and interpret the wonder in the everyday as he transforms mundane objects into contemplative compositions. “Helping my dad build and remodel our houses, learning to use tools and materials, gave me a confidence in my ability to create.” Charland, who has epilepsy, has recently incorporated references to his disability within the photographs. “Epilepsy can be an existence in a fragile state of balance. My work reflects this fragility as objects are set against the forces of the world.” The photograph Three Jars stems from the idea that each of us is a vessel of energy. Charland graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in 2004.
