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Remnants of the Garden:
Photographs by Willard Traub
Saturday, March 8 to Sunday, March 30, 2008
Garden 17
Volunteers 8
Garden 19
Garden 15
Volunteers 2
Captivated by the sculptural appearance of string beans in his garden, photographer and Massachusetts resident Willard Traub was inspired to create this series of silver gelatin and large format color photographs. These "weather-beaten remnants of the summer harvest" contrast the regular squares of the supporting wire form with the gnarled vines, dangling pods, and organic lines of the plants.
Artist Statement
This exhibit is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Nina May Traub, who planted the seeds of interest in gardening for many.
Walking in my vegetable garden one December morning in 1983, I was drawn to the weather-beaten remnants of the summer's harvest. Translucent and faded leaves, dried vines, and weathered pole beans all danced on the garden fence in the winter wind. I had recently been working on a series of black and white photographs of French funereal sculpture, and now these beans in my own backyard suggested a sculptural familiarity.
It was compelling to observe the beans through cycles of growth, decay, and regeneration. Sometimes a more inclusive view, sometimes a closer, more abstract observation of the beans, vines, and leaves on the fence provided infinite variety for the camera. Variables of pattern, light, color, texture, and focus were always there for the film to unerringly record. In the 1980s, I also experimented with a variety of textures and colors in backdrops behind the grid.
The photographs from 2000 and 2001 reflect the inherent strength of larger-sized color prints, yet retain elements of composition similar to those the project had when it was new 15 years earlier. So the photographer had aged, the garden had changed, yet the possibility of creating new imagery remained as close as my camera and loaded film holders.
The current photographs from 2007 reflect elements of how I now photograph. The portability of a medium-format camera and "hand-holding" the camera rather than working with a tripod allows a more spontaneous approach and "looser" images. Composing with the square format permits a freshness along with a new set of challenges. Finally, an extended range of development in the negative and the print allows for a more lyrical presentation in these three photographs from 2007.
—Willard Traub
January, 2008
Artist website:
http://www.saxonvillestudios.com/traub.html
Copyright © Willard Traub