Barbara Crane

Coloma to Covert: Scroll
gelatin silver print
10.75 x 40.25 in.

Coloma to Covert: Bagworms
gelatin silver print
11.25 x 29.5 in.

This work is part of a larger on-going series, begun in 1987, titled “Coloma to Covert.” It was made in a unique area of sand dune woods located between the small towns of Coloma and Covert in Southwestern Michigan where I continue to photograph the natural environment.

“Coloma to Covert: Bagworms” is a sequence of five 4” x 5” color Polaroid prints. I often address the issues of in and out of focus to expand the possibilities of my photography. The combination of how the wind, the sky, and the quality of light affect the Polaroid materials informs my vision.

The “Coloma to Covert: Scrolls” reflect my longtime interest in Asian scrolls. This is manifested in my placing 8” x 10” photographic negatives side by side which I then contact print onto rolls of paper in the darkroom. As today’s world continues to become increasingly high-tech, I find this primitive, slow, and nearly archaic method of production suits the meditative tone of these images.

I have always found inspiration in the formal and sequential elements present in Chinese and Japanese painting. My scrolls and sequences, in their rhythmic development also reflect my interest in Haiku poetry. There is a stringent paring down found in both these forms which is a discipline I have endeavored to incorporate in my work.

© Barbara Crane