Two photographers join together for an exhibit this Friday at the Public / Black Market
by: Nick Hardt
via- Lincoln nights
Ferdinand got interested in photography at the age of sixteen, playing around with the camera just wanting to make art. The Lincoln native gravitated towards photography more as he developed throughout college at the Kansas City Art Institute. By the age of 20 he decided he had found a career in the art form, “When all artists first start out they make art for the sole purpose of making it.” He said, “Then, when you realize the cost of living and the expenses going into photography it makes you get more professional. Plus, I realized I could make money doing something I liked.”
Colyer, from Joplin, Missouri, had a similar route towards photography. He says he was unsure what to do after high school and when he found out that he could spend his college years studying photography it was a closed case, “I decided to become a professional photographer whenever I found out you can go to school to be a professional photographer.” Colyer says, “I didn’t know what to do after high school so when I found out I could go to school for something I enjoyed doing it was perfect.”
The two met at the Kansas City Art Institute and have been doing art shows together in Kansas City for the last five years. While in school, Colyer says that Ferdinand helped him learn the technical aspect of photography, “The Art Institute is a conceptual type of school. You don’t really learn a lot about the technical side of things, so everything I know about the technical side of photography I learned from Josh.”
Going to an art show, a person sees ten to fifteen pictures, looks at them each for a couple of minutes and takes away something from their experience. That short time each person has with the photographs is supported by hours if not days of hard work and visualization. “Sometimes you drive around with an idea already in your head. You just load your car up with equipment and search for a location.” Colyer says, “The certain things you have in mind never end up happening. The idea always takes on a life of its own.”
There are also many hurdles to clear in preparation for each photo shoot, Ferdinand says, “You have to hire a model or go through a model agency. If you’re shooting food (as he often does), you have to hire a food stylist. Then, depending on the shoot you have to hire an assistant, get location releases, and contact the city to make sure you can shoot in certain areas.” He says, “There’s lots of working parts. The actual capturing of the image is only about 2 percent of what a photographer has to do to get an image.”
For the exhibit on Friday night, Colyer is displaying pictures that deal with regular people and odd things that could happen to them. He says, “You can put your own meanings into the pictures. They’re up for interpretation.” He says he usually picks the photos that work well in relation to each other and have the most things going on in them, “I pick the pictures that have the most things to talk about.”
Ferdinand’s exhibit includes photographs of objects associated with his childhood past. He says, “The objects from my (childhood) past are spray painted gold to show how I idolized them.” He says he likes to employ a bit of humor in his photographs and as far as a showing goes, he displays items that complement each other and he says, “It’s more a sense of that you work on something long enough until you think it’s ready to have the world look at it. Then you put it in the show.”
The band Lady and the Tramp will be performing to add to the atmosphere on Friday. The Public owner, Jesse Flinck says he enjoys having a mixture of things happening for First Friday, “We try to have a different dynamic to First Friday, not just an art show.” He says, “We try to include fashion, music, and art.”
Flinck also says that the First Friday events are a way to give up-and-coming artists exposure, whether it be painting, photography, music, etc. The band Lady and the Tramp, who plays pop punk music, will be performing for the first time outside of house parties on Friday. Flinck says, “they’ll get exposure from people who’ve never seen them before. That’s what our First Fridays are all about.”
The exhibit starts at 6pm on Friday. The Public / Black Market is located at 1033 O Street in the Gold’s Building. African Smokehouse will be providing wine for the event and it’s free to attend.
For more on The Public / Black Market first Friday event featuring photography by Joshua Ferdinand and Dusty Colyer and music by Lady and the Tramp check out the event's Facebook page here.
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