Thursday, September 25, 2008

Wish You Were Here













Cityscape
8.5 by 11
collage with woven photographs

This photograph was taken on New Years Eve 2006, I always thought this photograph was a shining example of how beautiful Philadelphia can be. I have been here for 11 years and for better or worse Philadelphia is a part of me. My life has been woven into the urban fabric that is The City of Brotherly Love.

16 comments:

aRae said...

great image, i forget (living on a small island) how city life is an abundance of straight lines, boxes and cubes, the tower blocks, i had forgotten there presence..
realy enjoyed your work..thanks

norcrossl said...

I love this idealized view of the city. It really is as though you "weaved" a bit of yourself into the work because you have given us your perspective.

lebuck8 said...

Hi Laura,
Great work! I love the idea of weaving photographs!

gracki said...

Laura,
Will you show me one day how you created this? I am fascinated. This is really spectacular and has such rhythm and movement that comes hand in hand with the city. I love it!

tovias8 said...

I love the exciting energy that the contrast of the lights and the darkness provide in this piece. You did a great job, I can't wait to go back and look at your lesson plan for this.

favorite things said...

This piece looks like it could have been created on photoshop, yet I know what it looks like in person. What a difference it makes to see work in person. I think it looks great both in person and online. I like how you've chose to show your sense of place.

Art Ed Guy said...

I can relate to your comments about "for better or worse" - being that Philly is made up of sizeable amounts of both. I too feel as if my life has become a woven mixture of the elements that make up Philadelphia. I transplanted myself out here from the Midwest many years ago and at this point it's hard to imagine living anywhere else. The city is a continual reference point of inspiration for the things I make, and has had a way of getting under my skin and into my senses in both good and not so good ways. I liked your take on the woven imagery for that is what makes Philadelphia what it is - a blend of so many things both old and new and people and cultures from all corners of the planet. You could peel back layer upon layer and never quite get to the bottom.

Christy Hahn said...

Laura,

There is a uniqueness to this piece that is truly yours. I admire your weaving technique and the risk you took. The final image is fantastic and I can see that it took a lot of patience as far as construction is concerned. Amazingly enough, this could easily be a fully constructed digital piece because of the tile effect. Nice work!

Sam said...

Laura,
I love the idea of weaving photographs. This work is amazing, it looks like the city is glowing.

jmkilburn said...

I think this is a surprisingly literal way to depict yourself and your sense of place! Not in a bad way, either... I wouldn't have thought in a million years to produce something so original and almost obvious, really. I didn't know how you did this from the electronic version here, but your process story makes me want to see it in realtime.

Margaret Joan MacIsaac said...

I like the way you have used weaving process that is so old to describe your life in a modern city environment. How you describe your life in the fabric of the city, how we are all an influence on each other positively or negatively.

ChambersoftheSea said...

What an interesting technique. The resulting image exudes vitality, has the sense of capturing the city's pulse.

Amy said...

The weaving is wonderful. You should do a whole series of photographs like this I think it would be great.

June Julian said...

Your luminous piece sparkles and pops like a Pointillist painting and incorporates the concept of weaving to great advantage both formally and metaphorically

Bryan said...

To begin, the transition from the woven photographs at the top to the singular image at the bottom is nicely done. It's a difficult task to combine, cohesively, the two dimensional with the three dimensional, and you have carried it out with great success. It is also wonderful to see an idea translated as both an illusory space and a tangible object. Again, quite nice. (Picasso's chair cane).

~ Bryan

Anonymous said...

Hey Laura!

Your collage is beautiful and I really like the woven photos. I would love to see this (outside of the virtual realm)