Off Center
Popular Photography|January 2017

Julie Blackmon layers images to bring out the odd truths of life behind the white picket fence

- Meg Ryan
Off Center

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Springfield, Missouri, is a city of about 160,000 about 100 miles southeast of the geographic center of the United States. Its population is about 89 percent white, 96 percent U.S.-born, and 51.5 percent female. Although Julie Blackmon was born in this Springfield (in 1966, the oldest of nine children) and she still lives and works there, her pictures depict a through-the-looking-glass version of the place.

Layering together multiple photographs to create surprising and haunting tableaux, Blackmon stretches the fabric of the mundane until you can see the chaos, absurdity, and just-plain-weird that lurks beneath. In one image, “New Chair” (page 89), a jarringly modernist living room object erupts from a perfectly banal FedEx truck like Harold Hill showing up in River City. To those witnessing the delivery, the shiny new distraction is all that matters, while life inside the photo continues as normal, and no one seems to notice the kid who’s stuck his head in the bubble wrap.

“I know I’m very much defined as the ‘family’ photographer, but I don’t think of it quite this way,” she says in an email. “I’m just looking around at my everyday life and, like any artist, trying to make sense of it.” It just so happens that family life is chock full of material to photograph, and, for many viewers, happens to also be pretty relatable.

この蚘事は Popular Photography の January 2017 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Popular Photography の January 2017 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHYのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
Tips for Taking Majestic Horse Photographs
Popular Photography

Tips for Taking Majestic Horse Photographs

Carol Walker is one of the world’s preeminent equine photographers. Whether stallions, mares, mustangs, or geldings, she captures them in all their natural splendor. Here, she shares her secrets for making images of horses in the great outdoors. 

time-read
8 分  |
February 2016
Finding Structure In A Jumbled World
Popular Photography

Finding Structure In A Jumbled World

Whether shooting from above, below, or on the ground, Jeffrey Milstein finds structure in our jumbled world.

time-read
8 分  |
February 2016
A Star's Turn
Popular Photography

A Star's Turn

In a year of bravura performances, the Fujifilm X-Pro2 claimed the spotlight early and earned a standing ovation.

time-read
5 分  |
January 2017
aloha adventure
popular photography

aloha adventure

sizzling lava, hidden waterfalls, dramatic waves... unimaginable beauty awaits in hawaii. four photographers divulge their best secrets for capturing the islands’ majestic landscapes.

time-read
6 分  |
december 2016
freeze frame
popular photography

freeze frame

use hot-shoe flash units to stop motion.

time-read
2 分  |
december 2016
road trip
popular photography

road trip

take a drive through a living heritage.

time-read
2 分  |
december 2016
Double Take
Popular Photography

Double Take

Adding mirrors can multiply your portrait lighting challenges.

time-read
3 分  |
November 2016
Concrete Thoughts
Popular Photography

Concrete Thoughts

Conversation, inspiration, contests, and your questions answered.

time-read
2 分  |
September 2016
Main Squeeze
Popular Photography

Main Squeeze

When life hands you lemons…

time-read
2 分  |
September 2016
A Winning Year
Popular Photography

A Winning Year

Exploring the woods of Canada with a snow-dusted fox, watching the stars from under a cave on the Northern California coast, cheering front row at an action packed Arizona rodeo, or unearthing the inner workings of a family heirloom, this year’s prize winners captured mementos of lives well lived—and well photographed. Read on to find out the creative ways our readers used their cameras to skillfully depict their worlds.

time-read
6 分  |
March - April 2017