ron reeder
Sometime in the summer of 2007, it dawned on me that reality was completely optional in my images. I finally had the skills to take a background from here, shots of models from there, and other objects from anyplace and meld them into a fairly seamless, photo-realistic whole. In addition I could, within limits, move the light around to suit the occasion. From this realization grew a new image series loosely titled "Tales of the Tribe." Several examples are shown on this site and more pop out of my overheated brain nearly every day.
As you can see, some of the images are vaguely tribal. They show a group of hominids who have very few possessions (extremely few clothes) in a sparse arid setting. Over time some subcategories have emerged. For example, every tribe needs a fool and some images show this individual doing foolish things. Some images are darker and seem faintly biblical, tending toward visions of an apocalypse. And others I really cannot categorize. In general I resist putting any interpretation on the images. Clearly they tell stories. But I leave it to the viewer to decide exactly what the story may be.
Is this art? We live in an era in which piles of dirt on an empty warehouse floor can cause critics to swoon and write articles in the Arts section of the New York Times. By that standard I am re-creating the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. A more reasonable answer is "I really have no idea."
What I do know is that this is the most fun I have had with photography since my dad gave me a box camera for my 12th birthday. I have never before worked on a project where the ideas continually bubble up like gas from a warm swamp. I feel completely free to steal from all my better predecessors. That includes the Bible, Odd Nerdrum, Victorian fairy painters, William Blake, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, every science fiction and fantasy book I have ever read, and my college Comparative Anatomy class.
Some of the images are grim, even a bit gruesome. Others are funny (on purpose) while others seem to be funny accidentally (people tend to laugh at them even though I thought I was making a serious image). And others were made simply to see if I could actually make an image like that. I am not telling which are which.
I am as curious as anyone to see where this project will go next. Will it morph off into some even more weird dimension? Will the ideas dry up and the whole thing end with a whimper? All I can say at this point is that I work in 16 bit depth and no pixels were harmed in the execution of these images.
