“There are no unsacred places.”
- Wendell Berry, Novelist
“I listen with my eyes...
I believe in the healing powers of
photography...
we need photos.”
- Amy Touchette, Street Photographer
Amy
Touchette is a Brooklyn-based street photographer. Her images are candid,
vulnerable, and richly layered. (Link) I first encountered her five months ago
in a B&H podcast, “Intention and Interaction in Street Photography” (Link),
an interview she made with another New York street photographer, Ruddy Roye (Link).
(Side note:
if you are a photographer and are interested in weekly interviews with
world-class photographers, consider subscribing to the B&H podcast. B&H
is a huge New York City camera store (Link) with a worldwide reach. Confession:
I start drooling about a block away from B&H’s Manhattan location at the
corner of West 34th Street and 9th Avenue. Once inside the store,
I wander around slack-jawed in bedazzlement. Sad, but true. And the arrival of
the annual B&H catalogue is akin to the arrival of the Eaton’s Christmas
catalogue when I was a kid.)
Back to Amy
Touchette: Listening to her interview, I was left with the impression of a
photographer who cares deeply about the people in her photographs, not just the
‘score’ of making those photographs. Her integrity is as impressive as her gifted
eye. She avoids exploitive photography and relishes the human connections she is
making. When she says that she believes in the healing powers of photography, I
believe her. And I am inspired by her.
For me, the
healing power of photography is two-fold:
1. The act of photography itself –
cleaning the lenses, charging the batteries, checking the memory cards,
clearing the time, doing the research, and then simply wandering and observing –
is powerfully healing. Process is paramount. Process is healing.
2. And the photos themselves – the subjects,
the composition, the beauty, the confusion, the challenging bits, the photo paper,
the framing – are also healing.
The process
and the photographs keep me honest.
I recently made
the following photos with Amy Touchette’s healing approach to photography in
mind. It’s my small way of saluting American artists who struggle to bring renewal
and redemption to their work in the face of civic nastiness.
Enjoy.
Joan Baez, Roy Thomson Hall,
September 18, 2018
Joan Baez' Guitars, Roy Thomson Hall,
September 18, 2018
Bill's Tomatoes,
September 16, 2018
Backyard, Wellington Pottery
September 22, 2018
House Wall, Wellington Pottery
September 22, 2018
Mushrooms from Cloven Farm,
Wellington Market, September 22, 2018
Brown-Eyed Susans,
Dufferin Avenue, Belleville, September 22, 1018
Barn Wall, Love Nest Studio Gallery,
Wilson Road, Prince Edward County
September 23, 2018
Chopped Wood, Love Nest Studio Gallery,
Wilson Road, Prince Edward County
September 23, 2018
Former Feed Store
Behind Armstrong Glassworks, Wellington,
September 22, 2018