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Photographer Dawn Chase finds beauty in the details

 

Photographer Dawn Chase, who has been living in New York since 1992, has a particular fascination and focus on macro nature photography. One look at her website and the viewer will rediscover the world the way Dawn sees it, with an intense attention to detail, and capturing the essence of the everyday object in a new way.

Dawn says, "I'm currently working on an anthropomorphic exhibit, which is nearing completion and I'm looking for a venue.  I've shared a few photos from the project.  The correlating drawings will either be drawn in a thin line of white molding paste on white paper, or embossed.  This will allow the viewer to discover their own story in the photographs before they see mine.  I'm still deciding which way to go with it.  This exhibit has been a work in progress for several years, and I'm excited to share what I see."

A native of Cape Cod and with extensive experience in the fashion industry, she has worked in Europe as well as the United States, and has honed her skills for catching the forms, shapes, angles, colors and textures of a side of New York most people don't notice much. That of the very small and intimate.

Dawn started exhibiting her work in 2005, and has shown her work all over Manhattan at fifteen exhibits since then, along with enjoying a recent feature in Manhattan Times Newspaper.  Her unique talent for revealing this hidden beauty of New York has been receiving a lot of attention and appreciation from fellow photographers and art lovers alike. Her photos help the viewer get up close and personal with ordinary objects, peeling away a layer to achieve greater discovery, imagination and expression that might normally be overlooked.

Dawn spoke to us about how her macro photography began and the impressions she is hoping her art will leave on the viewer.

Your macro photography of flowers are beautiful.   Where did you find the subjects for your flower gallery and do you feel that seeing the subjects more closely brings a greater appreciation of nature?

I live in Inwood, at the top of Manhattan, right across from the Cloisters and the beautiful park there. I go there quite often and whenever I go I see things that I want to photograph. I might see a little flower in the crack and I love macro photography for that reason. I think it brings a greater appreciation of things you don't see while walking by. You see details and colors such as a hint of blue in what you thought was just a yellow flower. You might also see little hairs coming out of the petals, or some other interesting feature, which is why it's so important to look closer at nature. People love to see things close up, as I've done some exhibits around Manhattan and seen that my macro photos have gotten a very good response. I love doing it and I quit my job at a boutique so I could do this full time. Originally this was just a hobby and then I decided to do it every day. I couldn't accomplish what I wanted to while working and I had some savings put away, so I started doing this full time. I'm a great peanut and jelly fan, and I was willing to cut a lot of corners to be able to purse my love of photography. It is paying off because I am getting a lot of exhibits. I am now part of an Uptown Art Show, which started on May 7th at 5030 Broadway, Suite 801, which is near 214th Street. It's a group exhibit called "I didn't have to be me."

I just keep my eyes open wherever I go and if I see something that makes me go "oh wow" then I take a photo of it. I now have thousands of photos in my catalog and I am seeing which would make the biggest and best impact. I just finished doing "Women in the Heights" exhibit at Contemporary Women Artists of Upper Manhattan, and I showed two photos in that exhibit. I did exhibits at City College Gallery, and I also did an exhibit for Hudson View Gardens art group, where I featured macro photography. I am also a part of the group Northern Manhattan Photo. They have done several group exhibits over the years. I did the "Economy Exhibit" in 2009. They gave us a specific topic and I did photos of coins. It's a group that has very diverse photographs. It was difficult to find worn out coins, so I destroyed some of them on my own. I burned one with a blowtorch, I hit another with a hammer, I cut another one up. I found out that at one stage there was so much copper in a penny that it was actually worth more than the one cent it was representing, because the price of copper went up. So then they remade them with less copper inside. I did the crystalized coin, which was actually an accident. I was trying to oxydize the coin and I tried every chemical I could think of. Finally someone suggested I use Miracle Grow and after a couple of weeks the liquid evaporated and crystalized. Those photos were used in the Manhattan Times newspaper. I wanted to show the damage done to the economy through the damage to the coins. The Lincoln coin I actually found and I thought it was amazing that the coin had a hole in its head and Lincoln was shot in his head in the exact same place. I thought the little bit of white you see coming through the coin symbolized hope in the economy.

I decided to start doing accompanying drawings to my photos as a way to give the viewer an idea of what I saw in the photograph. I wanted to start the process of them looking deeper and seeing something in the photo. I want it to be more subtle though so I will either have embossing on paper or do a white molding face on it. That way if you are across the room you can just see the photograph and have your own interpretation, but if you come up closer you can see my drawing and what I see in the photo. Some interpretations are easy to see, but not everyone will be able to see it in the flowers. It's not as obvious and makes you look a little harder for the meaning or vision behind the photo. My next exhibit is a work in progress and there is no set date for it yet. I definitely want to do the flower exhibit this year though, and now I have enough photos of flowers to accomplish that. I don't usually photograph flowers every day. It just depends on what catches my eye. I am currently looking for an appropriate venue to house this next exhibit.

You have done galleries of photos on New York City.  Have you thought about doing something about your hometown of Cape Cod or the state of Massachusetts, which are both very picturesque?

I haven't been back to Cape Cod for a while but I usually photograph wherever I happen to be, and right now that is mostly in New York. I visit my parents in Connecticut and photograph there. My mother has a great garden and I find many great flower subjects right in her garden. The Cloisters garden is a big inspiration and it is right near my home in NY. I also take a lot of photos when I am on vacation. When you get down on the ground and take photos of objects up close, you tend to see things you wouldn't normally see by just walking by. You enter a different world and see a different perspective that way.

Your galleries of animals are very interesting and unique.   How do you manage to get the animals in such entertaining poses, or do you just look to bring out their own unique personalities?

I mostly let them do their own thing. The trick is not to try and that way the animal's own personality will come out. I like the photos to be real and I never photoshop the pictures. What you see is how they were originally taken. Whatever you see is what was there in the first place. I have no time limit with the animals. I just give them time and space to feel comfortable around me. I chill out with them and gain their trust. You have to be very relaxed around them because they are very sensitive to the vibes in the room or the energy you are giving off. So if you are tense they will pick up on that and won't be relaxed around you. So I just give them time to feel relaxed and trusting around me and then I get down on their level and form a connection with them.

Do you find there is unique beauty in normally overlooked subjects, as demonstrated in your economy gallery and your kiln buildings gallery?

I do believe it is kind of a feeling or a sense of what will photograph well. Also you walk past a lot of different people all the time and we tend to overlook a lot of things in our surroundings. I have a soft spot for objects that are easily dismissed or overlooked by a busy city lifestyle. I want to show all the sides of the city and help people see the beauty of things we normally just walk by. I found the special beauty in a penny and when I looked really closely at it I realized how well the portrait was made. I really appreciated the detail and artwork of the penny when I got to study it closely. I realized it really displays the dignity and strength of the character of Lincoln. He was a very quiet man but he had a a lot of strength and the expression on the portrait really shows that well.

I am a member of several photography groups and we have meetings on a regular basis. I meet once a month with the group that did the Manhattan Times piece together. I am generally a night owl and will wake up late and then go to bed at 2-3am. That's when I work best at sorting my photos. I like the evenings because I get the best photos in the afternoon sun and when the sun is going down. After dark I will go on the internet and make connections, apply for grants, search for photo opportunities, groups and classes. During the day I go outside to take photos and do research. I like afternoon sun best because if the sun is directly overhead it tends to wash out the colors. Overhead light doesn't make for interesting shadows. You get more saturated colors during the afternoon. You also see better texture on objects if you have the sideways light, as opposed to overhead where it flattens everything out.

I was basically self taught with photography. This past Spring and Fall I decided to take my knowledge further and do some classes, and I was craving some feedback on my photography. It can be a bit isolating working on your own all the time, so I took some classes at the National Center for Photography in Midtown. I did do a class there 13 years ago but now everything is digital. I find it really helpful to be around other people with good energy and ideas to get my creative juices flowing. The classes also help to structure my day. I also wanted to try new things, like a street photography class, and doing these classes pushes you to learn new ways of working.

What subjects do you think you will focus on in the future? 

I am going on vacation soon so will take a lot of beach photos, of shells and objects found on the beach. I also want to concentrate on getting some closeups of insects too. I have also thought about doing closeups of people's faces and skin. I don't really plan much though, I just keep my eyes open and whatever I find inspiration in is what I photograph. I talk to other photographers and get inspiration and learn from their experiences. I want to get better as an artist and I also don't want to do what someone else is doing. I want to find my own niche. I like being a part of the photography groups and exhibiting with them. It is a great inspiration to me and you learn different styles and get different views from them. I would never want to repeat what another photographer has done, but I want my art to be elevated to that level, and being around great artists does that. I want to get to the level of having a wow factor. If people look at my work and they say "wow" or "oh" then I am happy.

Dawn is donating two photos to the DUMBO Art Center. It's called the Secret Garden Party 2 and it's a silent auction party and benefit happening on June 16th. It will be $55 at the door or $50 in advance.

Dawn's work is also currently exhibiting at "If I didn't have to be me" exhibit with the NoMa photo group at Manhattan Times, 5030 Broadway, Suite 801 (W 214th Street) NYC through June 30th, 2011.

To see more of Dawn's eye opening work check her website at www.dawnchasephoto.com

 

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