honorable mention
pat swain united states
title
Chairs in Museums: The Past is Present?
These are quiet, sometimes moody, pictures of vacant chairs in museum rooms devoid of people. The chairs are for the guards of course. (Where are they? No people-why bother?) At the same time, I wonder about the contemplative nature of the idea of these chairs–motionless, isolated, meditatively immersed in works of arts created in -this case- antiquity. And to some degree, these solitary chairs in themselves become part of the whole experience, a metaphor that nobody is interested or a rusty experience of just forgetting or is it remembering or a meditation? From here to antiquity? The past is layered within the present. (And sometimes placed in vast rooms where the art-if it could breathe- would feel misplaced and depart to friendlier surroundings.)
Swain’s photographs have been published in Leonardo (MIT Press), The FENCE at Photoville / United Photo Industries, Brooklyn, The New York Times, Digital Fine Art, Spin Magazine, New York Magazine, Foritim, Istanbul, Today’s Zaman, Istanbul, Juxtapoz online photo magazine, Direct Art Magazine, Photo District News, Focus Magazine, We Are Visual Animals online photo magazine, Photo Review, among others.
Among Swain’s many awards are: London Creative Awards, the ‘Discovery of the Year’; London Creative Awards, Shortlist; Paris PX3 Photo, First Place; International Photo Awards, Finalist, 'Discovery of the Year Award’, New York Center for Photography, Grand Prize; The Center for Fine Art Photography: Juror’s Choice Center Forward Award, The Celeste Prize
She has taught digital imaging at School of Visual Arts, Pace University and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She lives in New York City.
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entry description
Chairs in Museums: The Past is Present?These are quiet, sometimes moody, pictures of vacant chairs in museum rooms devoid of people. The chairs are for the guards of course. (Where are they? No people-why bother?) At the same time, I wonder about the contemplative nature of the idea of these chairs–motionless, isolated, meditatively immersed in works of arts created in -this case- antiquity. And to some degree, these solitary chairs in themselves become part of the whole experience, a metaphor that nobody is interested or a rusty experience of just forgetting or is it remembering or a meditation? From here to antiquity? The past is layered within the present. (And sometimes placed in vast rooms where the art-if it could breathe- would feel misplaced and depart to friendlier surroundings.)
about the photographer
Pat Swain is an award winning photographer. Her photographs are held in several collections including, The Hopiteaux Universities a Genève: University Hospitals of Geneve, Goulandris Museum in Kissifad, Athens, Greece, Los Angeles Museum of Digital Art, Koc Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey, The Gumusluk Academy, Bodrum, Turkey, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, The Center of Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, including many private collections..Swain’s photographs have been published in Leonardo (MIT Press), The FENCE at Photoville / United Photo Industries, Brooklyn, The New York Times, Digital Fine Art, Spin Magazine, New York Magazine, Foritim, Istanbul, Today’s Zaman, Istanbul, Juxtapoz online photo magazine, Direct Art Magazine, Photo District News, Focus Magazine, We Are Visual Animals online photo magazine, Photo Review, among others.
Among Swain’s many awards are: London Creative Awards, the ‘Discovery of the Year’; London Creative Awards, Shortlist; Paris PX3 Photo, First Place; International Photo Awards, Finalist, 'Discovery of the Year Award’, New York Center for Photography, Grand Prize; The Center for Fine Art Photography: Juror’s Choice Center Forward Award, The Celeste Prize
She has taught digital imaging at School of Visual Arts, Pace University and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She lives in New York City.
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