FRANK HAMRICK | When the light becomes eternal, 2023

Wet plate collodion is central to all the works I am submitting. The two tintypes in this collection, "Split Tree" and "Arch Branch" are from my ongoing examination of how water impacts all aspects of our lives and environment. Both of these images were made beside waterways. Beyond water and nature being subjects in my photographs, I am also aware of how my use of analog photo processes depend on the use of water and materials derived from nature. The 2023 artist’s book "When the light becomes eternal" consists of 14 tintype photographs altered by moving subjects, shifting light, failing equipment, recycled materials, as well as contaminated, homemade, and exhausted chemistry. The book’s title, based on a toy drone’s poorly translated instructions, refers to photographs recording the light reflecting off subjects. The tintypes, made in Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee, feature outdoor portraits of blurred, shadowed, and washed out individuals, as if they were experiencing the 2017 eclipse, which also appears in the book. The collodion image on the "One Way Out" vinyl record is part of in-progress series of photographs made in locations related to the musicians and/or song titles on the record. In this particular example, the lyrics from the song "One Way Out" performed live at The Fillmore East by The Altman Brothers Band from their double album "Eat A Peach", mentions a lover climbing out an upstairs window to escape being discovered. The site photographed features an open second story window in one portion of the composition, but also features the sign for the H&H restaurant, which is significant to the early history of the Allman Brothers Band. The H&H restaurant is located on a street between their shared dwelling "The Big House" and their manager's office downtown on Cotton Avenue in Macon, Georgia. The H&H is a soul food restaurant. When the band first started two members of the Allman Brothers asked for two plates of food and six forks to go and promised to pay for them upon returning from their tour, which they did and then asked for two more plates of food on credit. The co-owner "Mama Louise" remembered seeing all six band members sharing the two plates out on the sidewalk and told them to all come eat inside. The band thanked her on their second album in the credits, "Vittles: Louise". Not only did Louise feed the band when they were just starting, she welcomed an integrated band into her business at a time when much of the south was still residually segregated. The H&H is still open today and is a stop for any Allman Brothers fan making a pilgrimage to Macon to visit their graves in Rose Hill and/or the "Big House" which is now a museum.

BIO

Frank Hamrick’s artist’s books unite his photography, writing, papermaking, and letterpress relief printing. His tintypes have appeared in album packaging for Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and Kevin Gordon. Frank’s work has been spotlighted by NPR and Oxford American Magazine and collected by institutions including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the Seattle Art Museum. Born and raised in Georgia, Frank has lived in New Mexico, Maine, and Italy. Frank is currently a Professor and MFA graduate program coordinator at Louisiana Tech University’s School of Design in Ruston.