Coming Down to Earth: Justin James Reed
Coming Down to Earth:
JUSTIN JAMES REED
Untitled (31), from the series Wayside Spring, 2022
Untitled (07), from the series Wayside Spring, 2020
Untitled, from the series Wayside Spring, 2021
The mystical, large format multiple exposures occupying a corner of the back gallery are the work of Richmond photographer and educator, Justin James Reed. The images depict the area surrounding Wayside Spring, one of only a handful of drinkable public freshwater springs remaining in the state of Virginia. This series is a slight departure from another recent series titled “Hallucinations,” which formally documented elements of iconic Mt. Shasta.
Untitled, from the series, Hallucinations, 2019
Untitled (24), from the series Wayside Spring, 2021
In these series, Reed takes a phenomenological approach, finding photography the perfect tool to translate his direct experience of the non-human natural world into tangible materials. While the series utilizes a highly representational visual language, it allows for the possibility of seeing something other that what is being shown. This demonstration of where representational qualities of photography meet the edges of perception and a translation of direct experience, is Reed’s primary focus.
In many ways Reed's work has never been about creating an index of something with a camera. It is much more reflective of his interest in what is possible, including the potential to perceive things better that are not necessarily visual. David Abram’s seminal book ‘The Spell of the Sensuous,’ which explores intersections between deep ecology and philosophy, has become the primary influence for this body of work. In it, one of the central concepts Abram’s speaks of is “the malleable texture of perception.” Reed finds this flexibility, this openness of perceptual experience, the perfect vehicle to allow him to explore how photography acts as a tangible material version of a psychic relationship between the seen and a landscape or, more specifically, non-human nature.
The works included in both “Wayside Springs” and “Hallucinations” are entirely comprised of images and yet fundamentally have little to do with what they actually depict. Instead, they highlight the potential of lens-based imagery to become more focused on sharing, rather than showing. They incapsulate the potential for perception beyond seeing.
Based in Richmond, Virginia, (USA) Justin James Reed’s work and artists’ books have been exhibited widely, including at Candela Gallery (Richmond), Melanie Flood Projects (Portland), Fortnight Institute (New York) and Unseen Photo Fair (Amsterdam). His work is in numerous collections, notably the Library of Congress, Yale University Art Gallery, Foam Fotografiemuseum Collection, The New York Public Library, MoMA Library, Stanford University Libraries, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and Dartmouth College. It has been published in Foam Magazine, Aperture’s The PhotoBook Review, Harper’s Magazine and The Wire Magazine. Justin has experimented widely with the book form, helping to develop projects for Brooklyn based Horses Think Press and Flat Fix, in addition to his own press, ultraterrestrial.xyz. Currently, he is working on a number of independent publishing projects with various artists. He is an Associate Professor in the Photography + Film Department at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts.
Coming Down to Earth will be on view at Candela Gallery through April 23, 2022.