The Textured Vision of Artist In Residence GREGORY BARCKHOLTZ

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The Textured Vision of Artist In Residence
GREGORY BARCKHOLTZ

By Robert E. Martin

Gregory Barckholtz, photo by Bob Martin

Photographer Gregory Barckholtz is a professional portrait photographer whom faces a challenge confronting all artists of merit. Each day he must answer the question of how to infuse something fresh and unique into what on the surface can appear to be a commonplace routine.

As the 2003 Artist in Residence at the Saginaw Art Museum, forty-five of Barckholtz's photographs will be on display in the exhibition Curves from January 17th - March 2nd. And the diversity of imagery presented does what all 'good' art should in terms of traversing textures of simplicity found in subjects and rendering them timeless with complexity of shape and light that ultimately reflect and touch upon the deeper recess of our soul.

A St. Charles native and self-taught artist, Barckholtz has owned and operated his own studio, Portraits by Gregg, for more than 20 years and was recently honored by making the cover of Camera Craftsmen of America in 2000. As the second 'Artist in Residence' at the Saginaw Art Museum, (the concept was introduced last year with inaugural inductee Jim Perkins) Barckholtz will be at the museum each Thursday from 1-4 PM during the exhibition, offering classes and exploring issues of technique and vision important to quality photography.

Thematically, Gregg distinguishes his work in Curves from his day-to-day work as 'the work he loves to do.' "The photos in Curves represent the work I'd do for free if people didn't pay me to do it. This work is what the people who pay me give me the ability to do. It represents my 'passionate' photography."

"I love the light, texture and shapes of these images, which is why the show is called Curves. As long as you don't have a bunch of straight lines, you can make something beautiful out of everything," explains Gregg.

"Most of the show is either work I asked someone to sit for, but some is work I've done for clients that granted me control. Certain people you can 'read' and they truly mean it when they say they wish to give you free reign. Other people say that but follow it up with conditions," continues Gregg.

"One of my main influences was an instructor named 'True Red' that I studied under 12 years ago in Texas. Funny enough, his sister is named 'Cherry Red'. But he proposed a question and said whenever on assignment, just ask yourself 'What if'. What if I would do this what would happen to the picture? That had a huge impact on me."

Gregory Barckholtz, photo by Bob Martin

"There's hardly a photo that I take in a year that doesn't include a
person," continues Gregg. "The fact that I was drawn to a commercial
photographer like True amazed me, but his work was so technical yet
conveyed emotion that no matter what he photographed was artistic and
beautiful, so he was a major influence on my work."

"One of the pieces in the show is a photo of my daughter covered in peanut
butter," smiles Barckholtz. "I wanted to do a shot that made a person look
like a chiseled statue, so at first tried using cold crème. But that burned
her eyes, so I thought of butter, but realized that would melt.  Finally I
realized that peanut butter is the same color as skin and it wouldn't
irritate her eyes.  People joked about it asking 'What's next, jelly?'  But
that shot is one of my favorites.  Actually, I followed it up with two
sisters that dabbed chocolate syrup all over their faces, which was also an
interesting shoot."

'Untitled' by Gregg Barckholtz

Unlike his color portraiture, all of the photographs in Curves are shot in Black & White on a Mamiya RB67. "That's an old dinosaur of a camera that hasn't changed in years," notes Gregg. "It has a spring driven shutter so the camera will function perfectly with no batteries. It also has no metering system, so I meter everything by hand. But honestly, I've been at it so long I don't even need to meter the light and can simply judge it."

"The 'RB" stands for 'revolving back', but I think it stands for 'really big' because it has a really big negative," jokes Gregg. "I've always hated 35mm cameras. The Mamiya allows you to see through the viewfinder better, the screen is larger, and it's easier to compose upon. Plus, the negative is four times larger than a 35mm camera, so when I go into the darkroom I have a nice large sharp negative to work with."

Gregg also notes that the show will be extremely varied. "If you see eyes looking back at you it's a portrait, but if you look at a photo and see motion and need to figure out what it is, then it's artistic, which is my challenge."

In terms of what he feels distinguishes his work from that of other
photographers, Gregg prides himself upon the technical edge. "I would like
to think that from a lot of the 'fine art photographs' there is still a
technical end to my work," he explains. "For me a photograph needs to be
technically perfect. A lot of time if you look at shows and displays you
see a lot of emotion in the work, but I've seen things in shows that I
thought were weak technically. Personally, I want all the details covered
in the frame."

"One print in the show is of triplets that are one-year old and the first
one is perfectly in focus, but it falls off as you go back. From a
technical end, I don't like that piece, but people love it because they
don't put as much emphasis on technique."

"Another distinguishing factor is the direction I take. It's hard to keep fresh, but I still try to, even though it seems if you do something unique, one year later you run across it in a magazine."

Apart from this hurdle, Gregg says the most challenging component to his work is dealing psychologically with people. "My photography is all person related, so just dealing with different people can be challenging, but it's also most rewarding. It's interesting to see if you can figure out a person and make a portrait capturing that element. But another thing I try to do is stay out of the 'cookie cutter' mode, which can be hard when you shoot 700 portrait sessions a year."

'Sand' by Gregg Barckholtz

In addition to the personal creative satisfaction from his artistic
explorations, Gregg admits that his outside interests tend to spill over
into his bread & butter photography.

"Most people want a portrait that is creative. When they throw that at you
it takes a few things to be creative - one is control and the second is a
model that fits something creative. A lot of kids have that spilling out of
them."

"I tend to feel that I go in a two-year cycle in terms of creativity
shifts," reflects Gregg. "I'll work on a certain thing and get bored and
move on to something new. But the one constant factor is 'black & white'. I
seem to get more & more infatuated with it because I think different."

"The most important thing that happens is when I read a negative in Black &
White and decide how to print it. There are so many ranges in dealing with
negatives. I don't think digital cameras carry that range."

Gregg also admits that he was pleasantly surprised when his Artist in
Residency was announced. "I've been making these images and compete every
year in the Professional Photographers of Michigan competition.
Fortunately, I've done really well and was named Photographer of the Year
six times and have in the top three places over the past 12 years."

"I 'd been thinking that I was teetering on the edge of something and
talked to people at the Saginaw Art Museum, asking them to look over my
work and give me an opinion if anything would fit in the gallery.  About a
month went by and I heard nothing, but then received the call asking if I
would consider becoming Artist in Residence, so obviously I was elated."

In conclusion, Gregg is reflective, eyes filling with the light of life's
irony. "I became a photographer in a manner that much like my work centered
around 'curves'.  I never intended to become a photographer and went to
school for awhile, but didn't like college so dropped out and went into the
family construction business, got married, had a child, and then the
recession hit with 18% interests rates and the construction business died."

"When my daughter was born I bought a camera and started taking snapshots
and had a great shot of her taking a bath with suds in her hair and a
Johnson Baby Shampoo bottle floating in the suds with her.  I entered that
shot in a photo contest and won an honorable mention, which actually
started my career."

"I create images every day for clients and with the guidelines generally
set by the clients. These images are my babies. Creations that keep my art
spirit alive."

"I'm a photographer for these reasons and my portrait business allows me
the vehicle to travel this road, hopefully full of curves."

The Opening Reception for Gregory Barckholtz and 'Curves: a study in light
& form' will be held on Thursday, January 16th from 6 to 8 PM at the
Saginaw Art Museum, 1126 N. Michigan Ave., Saginaw.   The exhibit will run
from January 17 - March 2nd.  People interested in taking any of Gregg's
classes at the Museum are encouraged to phone 989-754-2491

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