JULIE BLACKMON
meticulously orchestrated
My mom and I have a running joke (sob story?) that we always fall in love with an artist’s work, but for a variety of reasons hesitate/can’t afford to purchase it at the time. Inevitably their work becomes so popular that it’s then out of reach for us to own. Julie Blackmon’s incredible photography fits the bill.
My first opportunity to see Julie Blackmon’s work in person came in 2013 while I was working at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City. My mom had been singing the praises of Julie’s photos for years after seeing her work in Bentonville, Arkansas, and upon seeing her work with my own eyes I finally understood why. Blackmon crafts beautiful, and absurd, photos — often meant to look like candids — that are such a reflection of the chaos of life with children.
Each photo is layered with so many items and references it’s easy to miss all of the story. Even if I’ve seen one of Julie’s photos several times, each look reveals something new.
Julie fell in love with photography during college when she learned of famed female photographers such as Diane Arbus and Sally Mann, but it wasn’t until she moved into a home that had a darkroom in the basement that Blackmon’s practice took off.
Initially photographing her children and family members, Blackmon felt an urge to take her work further than straightforward portraiture: “Over the next few years, I progressed from making documentary black and white photographs of my life and the lives of my sisters to creating colorful, fictitious images that offered a more fantastical look at everyday life. My work became more conceptual, as I began to realize that I was not obligated to capture “reality” exactly, but that I could work more like a painter or a filmmaker, actively shaping the images I was creating. This realization—that fiction can often capture the truth more memorably than reality—was a major shift in how I saw the world around me, and it transformed my work.”
The photo above looks like any perfect summer day until you notice the young child sitting right next to the butcher knife which has clearly been used to cut the cake. Blackmon’s belief that fiction can often capture truth more memorably than reality is so apt, as any parent can tell you, you’re always one distraction away from true pandemonium. I love that these fictionalized photos capture that.
Concurrently, something about Blackmon’s photos captures the joy and playfulness of childhood. Often missing adults, the photos capture experimentation and fun, uncensored silliness. I often think that my own children’s childhood is so much less free than my own, as parents are expected to be 5 feet away from their child at all times. The sense of adventure and exploration we enjoyed while wandering through our neighborhood or walking for ice cream with friends is missing from their lives.
As Julie’s work has evolved, it’s become much more responsive to the outside world and often carries social commentary. The piece below, Bubble, was in response to Covid anxiety, and I have to say, it hits close to home. As Leah Ollman of the Los Angeles Times described in Blackmon’s latest catalogue: “Each frame is an absorbing, meticulously orchestrated slice of ethnographic theater … that abounds with tender humor but also shrewdly subtle satire.”
As usual, I cannot choose a favorite piece (one more reason I’m often paralyzed when considering an art purchase), so please go look at more of Blackmon’s work — and be sure to zoom in!
If you’d like to know more about Julie Blackmon start here, and also be sure to follow Julie on instagram at @julie_blackmon
Let’s talk more next week! xox