LACMA through the lens of Vera Lutter

Image credit: Vera Lutter, Rodin Garden, I: February 22, 2017, 2017, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, promised gift of Sharyn and Bruce Charnas, © Vera Lutter, photo courtesy of the artist

In the world of instant images and visual digital manipulations,  an analog photographic practice is alive, but not favored by many. New York-based artist Vera Lutter is one of the devotees of camera obscure method. This means constructing enormous cameras out of plywood , or adapting entire rooms for each projects. A negative does not exist to make prints, so each image is unique. No mechanical means to manage exposure. So the images are very different than those created by typical photographic methods.

For the exhibition on view from March 29th through August 9th at LACMA, Lutter shifted her focus from New York, the returning subject of her works, to the LACMA museum. The 44 images, shot when the artist was in residence at LACMA, offer longtime museum visitors an opportunity to see LACMA’s architecture, galleries, and collection holdings in images that are simultaneously familiar yet strange.

-

在即时图像和可视数字操作的世界中，有的模拟摄影实践虽然存在，但还没有受到众人的青睐。纽约艺术家Vera Lutter是暗箱拍摄技巧的爱好者之一。所谓“暗箱拍摄”就是利用胶合板建造巨大的摄像机，或者针对每个项目改造整个房间，而且不用底片，所以拍出来的每张照片都是独一无二的。没有利用机械的手段来管理曝光，这些照片与标准摄影方法拍摄出来的照片呈现出来的效果非常不同。

由于洛杉矶乡村艺术馆在3月29日到8月9日这段期间的展览，Lutter便将工作重心从纽约转移到洛杉矶乡村艺术馆。这44张照片是艺术家们在洛杉矶乡村艺术馆居住时拍摄的，长期参观洛杉矶乡村艺术馆的人们有机会在这些照片中看到该艺术馆的建筑、画廊和藏品，给人的感觉既熟悉又陌生。