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PhotoBooth Project
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| Current Exhibits |
Through January 27, 2008
The Claremont Museum of Art is bringing the photomural project called PhotoBooth to the Southern California region for the first time. PhotoBooth documents communities across the United States by creating a public mural of portraits of people in the community.
How PhotoBooth Works
PhotoBooth was created by San Francisco-based photographer Christopher Irion. With PhotoBooth, Irion documents a community by taking portraits of community members and, several weeks later, creating a public mural of the photos. The images, each usually 16" x 24", are digitally printed on rolls of paper so they can be hung like wallpaper onto one contiguous surface. Surfaces have included everything from an interior wall of a San Francisco coffee shop to a large wooden wall constructed in an open space in the small town of Putney, Vermont.
Irion created the PhotoBooth studio to be portable and lightweight. Since 2004, he has traveled more than 8,000 miles and made more than 2,000 portraits across America in communities that include San Francisco; Silver City, New Mexico; Putney, Vermont; Providence, Rhode Island; New York City; and a cross-country trip that included several different cities and states.
Irion has three requirements for every project: the photography must take place in a location that is a gathering spot or crossroads of that community; every person who is photographed is included in the installation; and the installation is located in a frequented community spot with pedestrian access, rather than a place apart such as an art gallery. In describing when people viewed past projects, Irion explains, "It was not about art for those viewers, it was about community. I wanted to make sure I honored that by putting it in a public place."
Irion sets up the booth in a very public place, and community members who happen to walk by and wish to participate are asked to fill out a quick waiver form, authorizing their photo to be taken and included in the public installation as well as possibly a future PhotoBooth book. Irion takes approximately 10-20 frames of each person (or couple or family) but uses only one, and people are in the booth for less than a minute. "Some people come in with their children, their pets, their significant others, or alone. It lends for an interesting variety of portraits."
Images
"The resulting portraits are remarkably beautiful and revealing," says William Moreno, Executive Director, who first learned of the project while living in San Francisco. "I'm impressed with what Irion is able to capture in a small, enclosed space. And so are the participants. Many tell him it's the best photo they've ever seen of themselves." As a way of recognizing the collaboration with each participant, all are sent a complimentary 5" x 7" print.
In explaining how he's able to capture such significant photos in this temporary space, he says, "The PhotoBooth functions a bit like a private sanctuary, but in a public place. Surrounded by white walls and behind a curtain, unable to even see the photographer, subjects can approach the moment with openness and curiosity--and we see them in the resulting portrait without their public mask. A much more revealing portrait is often possible."
More than anything, Irion is motivated by the concept of community. "I am interested in strengthening the ties of a community by showing the group back to itself in a direct and democratic fashion, with the idea that viewers can directly gaze at the faces of fellow citizens and have a moment to reflect on their relationship to one another with the hope that we might see each other in a fresh and less judgmental way. The installation functions as a place to meet one's neighbors as a town green might once have allowed, so as to share with others the gaze of the community."
Roger Hillyard of Farley's Café in San Francisco--home of the first PhotoBooth project, completed in 2004--says, "When the show was up, people would walk in the coffee shop and just stop. They'd look around in awe, their jaw would kind of drop, and then they'd break into a big smile.... [The installation] was so great and wonderful. It had a very warm feeling to it. It warmed everyone's heart and brought a sense of community."
"No one is edited out," says Moreno. "Once you walk into the booth, you know you're going to be part of a public art installation."
Moreno says the local library was chosen as the photography site because it's a public place that welcomes a diverse cross-section of the community. "The post office is also right across the street, which is another frequented community hub by people of all ages and backgrounds," he says.
Mural Location
The completed Claremont PhotoBooth installation will unveil on December 1 in the east plaza of the College Heights Lemon Packing House, located on the south side of West First Street at Oberlin Avenue, and home to the Claremont Museum of Art, a jazz club, and several restaurants, boutiques, galleries, and live/work lofts. The wall, at 72 feet wide and eight feet tall, will accommodate 200 photos.
The photo installation will be on view at least through January 1, possibly longer, depending upon the weather. "The longest it would remain up is through January 31," said Moreno. "We would love it to stay up as long as possible."
