In his poem, "A Raisin in the Sun," Langston Hughes poses the question: "What ever happens to a dream deferred?" The answer to this lies within personal speculation - in a realm far beyond what most of us conceive to be real.
Brian Chankin's take on this subject - the recollection of a lost moment - is an expression of perfectly imperfect, hypnotic images which capture the attention of the viewer, summoning a moment of bliss in an altered reality.
With the title Opposing Recall, Chankin's show takes the viewer through a journey into the subconscious, encapsulating - in a primitive, yet avant-garde sort of way - the true essence of what it is to want to remember.
Chankin, a senior majoring in photography, says of his honors thesis show, "For me it's about the invention of trying to find something that might have been a memory but probably never even existed."
I'm sure, as college students, we can all relate to such experiences, whether the result of drunken belligerence or just plain forgetfulness. Nonetheless, Chankin's work extends our perceptions of such occurrences, birthing a new genre of contemporary methodology regarding the photographic process.
The exhibition includes a series of hazed impressions delimited upon a black abyss that serves as the background. The human anatomy lies at the focus of each icon, both in its particulars and its complete grandeur. Most of the bodies are posing nude to enhance the pictures' silently throbbing complexity.
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The pictures are intended to lack sharpness yet hold an element of certainty that allows the viewer to understand the image through mental acuity. I found this particular characteristic rather interesting and praise-worthy, considering that many photographers want to render a transparent view of reality rather than what lies within it.
According to Chankin, the collection of photos seemingly produced itself, resulting from previous "conceptual work about unfinished answers in anorexia and depression."
He adds that, "the work just sort of happened by chance coming out of these roots." Chankin also stated that he works in such a way that he doesn't necessarily start out with a concept in mind. Instead, he "has to make the image first and then find out what the concept is."
Regarding the overall technical process, which sounded arduous and complicated, Chankin said he started out by shooting the model with a 4 by 5 camera. The negative, which is primarily in "clear focus," is then taken into the darkroom where the manipulation occurs. There, the image is defocused to "create thin lines" and to "blur out" certain areas, disregarding the natural function of a particular human quality. Chankin also mentioned, "With some images, certain parts are left in focus to enhance a certain reality within something that has no real definition."
The photographs set the pigment of skin and its natural tones against a black backdrop. During development, the skin tones can be "tuned up or down" to make them darker or to enhance the quality of color, specifically in relation to the red and yellow undertones present within the skin pigment.
In a personal statement displayed at his exhibition, Chankin describes his intent as an artist: "In trying to find a place of comfort in oblivion, I've realized that the opposition in these photographs is not clearly about struggle, but about being about struggle. They're about being one step behind everything in search of a truth that cannot be found.
Relative to recall, these images are about a contrivance in imagination; an invention of a blurred memory and a possible past relative to nothing in particular." Deferred dreams, past moments, unrequited memories - a collection of something we all have, but don't always have answers for.
The pieces on display as part of Opposing Recall range in size from 12 by 18 inches to 30 by 40 inches and are for sale with prices starting at $150 and extending to $500. The exhibit, in the John Sommers Gallery in the 2nd floor of the Art Building, is free and open to the public and ends Feb 26. For information regarding the purchase of these photos, contact Brian Chankin at pixelvision@hotmail.com.
