Rebekah Rocha

Photography and the Northwest

2008-06-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

©Jenny Riffle, Gibran Looks Away, 2007, C-Print

Over the last 14 years, I have been involved in some way with the Photographic Center Northwest, locally known as "PCNW" a fine art photography school in Seattle. Early on I used my free time as a volunteer and then filled a myriad of roles including student, designer, painter and for the last 5 years, instructor of various photography classes.

The center has grown from a small group of buildings to a larger, concentrated art space on Seattle's Capitol Hill housing a school and rental facility. A highlight is the changing monthly gallery show which showcases some great photography, including this portrait from Seattle Photographer Jenny Riffle.

beyond the backyard

2008-06-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Amy Stein, Watering Hole, 2005, C print, 24” × 30”

From June 20-August 23, The Museum of Contemporary Photography in sultry Chicago hosts Beyond the Backyard, a group show exploring the residential backyard and the myriad of ways it has influenced contemporary photographers including Amy Stein, Dawoud Bey and Brian Ulrich among others....

The American Backyard is as pervasive as ever, along with its promise of peace, lush green lawns, barbecues and friendly neighbors... They never mention the kids who shoot bb guns at anything that moves and the early bird who must mow the grass at 8am on saturday. I am always irritated by the amounts of water I see being used to keep grass green. (As my dad always said, you cant eat grass!) Besides, dont't they know weekends are for sleeping late??

christo at hummingbird roost

2008-05-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

To increase the temperature around the grape vines and encourage them to grow faster, my dad wrapped the entire vineyard in clear plastic. As the sun set, the shimmery plastic reflected lots of light and I imagine seemed awfully odd for the neighbors.

in the bottom

2008-05-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

I used to swim at night on warm summer days. We would head towards the underwater light in the deep end, always looking out for giant black spiders . They would drown in the pool and then sink to the bottom, sometimes still upright. When the water moved it looked like they were still alive and moving too.

hiding

2008-05-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

Everything has been so busy lately, I'd love to curl up and hide in some of the tall grasses. Except I imagine the spiders would freak me out. Something about hiding is interesting. Finding a brief escape from all the grown up responsibilities. Getting away to a remote cottage, or a small town diner, or just wandering the dark city streets alone.

cinco de mayo

2008-05-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

in the garage

2008-05-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

who are the urban archaeologists?

2008-05-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

Ive been thinking allot about what lies under the backyard. Literally, and also figuratively. When I was very young I wanted to be an archaeologist, something seemed exciting about finding long lost stories of some forgotten culture. Discovering their secrets. I'm sure the reality of tedious digging in remote locations is far from the exciting and glamorous "indian jones" style that is much romanticized!

In a way discovering the secrets of a backyard, or a basement is also interesting to me. Finding clues encourages me to wonder about the previous people who lived there. In my brother's recent basement renovation, he found some old porn from the 50s and 60s. It's tame and kind of funny by today's standards. He clearly unearthed someone's secrets, like other bits of found treasure, these things exist as shreds of evidence left for us to piece together the story.

mysteries

2008-04-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

the twilight zone

2008-04-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

Gregory Crewdson's new book, Beneath the Roses came out last month, along with an interesting article in Aperture magazine and an online interview. In the article, Crewdson discusses some of his artistic influences, including Lynch, Hopper and Eggleston. I share some of the same influences, although I tend to favor the dramatic, but not necessarily the fantastic....however I did grow up watching the twilight zone and remember staring vividly at the screen captivated by the spooky events going on.

"sub": under "urbia": city

2008-04-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Within the suburbs lies a hidden world, a collection of concealed yards, covered windows, buried secrets. I am interested in this hidden world. We prune, and tend and try to tame it all and yet it somehow returns.

looking

2008-04-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

missing

2008-04-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

2008-03-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

hideout

happy st patricks day!

2008-03-17T22:41:00.001-07:00

I got some power ball tickets in Denver last week and won $17! was hoping for the 250,000,000!

38 is the new 28!

2008-03-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

another year older and wiser and better!
I just returned from SPE in Denver today and had a really good time. Saw lots of photo friends from different parts of the country, professors and tons of photography. I never knew Arno Minkkinen would be dancing like a madman at 3am! I had critiques with James Kolby, Director of the Weeks Gallery in Jamestown, NY; Liz Unterman, the education coordinator the the Center for Photography at Woodstock; Tammy Cromer-Campbell from TCC Photo Gallery in Longview, TX and Bill Kouwenhoven, editor of Hotshoe magazine based in Berlin.

2008-03-11T21:58:00.001-07:00

beneath

mystery in an ordinary place

2008-03-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

the lunar eclipse (just for fun! 15 minute exposure)

In looking around these last few weeks I've been shooting through the "dense" spaces of my surroundings and searching for ways to invite the viewer in. There is not much room or much light, so it is simultaneously inviting and unsettling, just where I want it to be. I'm looking to give a sense of being there and show less of a representation of what is there. Really focusing on the mood of the images.

Yesterday I met with Claire. We had a productive meeting, I see my style is evolving and I am not completely comfortable with it yet, its like a new pair of shoes. I need a little time to make it mine. Claire wants me to quit fucking around and focus so to speak, in other words make some very conscious choices and be strong to defend them. what is it about this place and (my) being in it? Each addition to the body of work should be explained and purposeful. The most successful images are evocative of mood and really speak to a place of mystery and intrigue in a very ordinary place. I'm working on the images that will act as bridges between the more atmospheric pieces and the more descriptive ones. lots to do and June will be here before we know it.

I'm currently printing some work to take to Denver tomorrow for the SPE conference. It will be good to see Jen, Liz, Sam, Patrick and who knows who else will be there from Boston. A mid semester summit. I'll also have a chance to have drinks and catch up with my undergrad professors Jeannie Pearce and Alida Fish. which is always fun. I've got to get some leave behinds printed up so I'm off & Ill post more images later.

The Last Iceberg

2008-03-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

For the last month I have enjoyed the cool reflections from the latest show at PCNW's gallery, Camille Seaman's, The Last Iceberg and Lisa M. Robinson's Snowbound. The prints exude a quiet stillness in the gallery and a much needed brightness to our weary Seattle winter!

2008-03-05T21:37:00.000-08:00

It's dark & I am standing out in the street by the mailboxes in my sweats and slippers taking 5 and 10 minute photographs. A neighbor's house sitter came out with a dog. The dog saw me and barked but I don't think she could see me, although I did say hello....needless to say, I'm surprised the police were not called to check out the "stranger" lurking in the shadows on our quiet street

winter

2008-02-25T19:43:00.000-08:00

psychological portraits

2008-02-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

The Oscars are coming...Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises and Russian tattoos...
A couple of years ago in march I spent my birthday in new york. I went to the Russian Samovar for caviar, aspic, herring and vodka. It was snowing (!) and absolutely amazing. There is something wonderfully seductive about the lounge, the red lights glow amidst all the people smoking, laughing and comfortably hanging out.

In a similar night, I had a great Russian dinner at Restaurant Pasternak in Berlin. Named after Boris Pasternak, the author of Doctor Zhivago, for which the movie version in 1966 won 5 Oscars, including one for cinematography and one for art direction.

These restaurants and movies are all about ambiance, mood and getting in. Presenting a psychological portrait. of a person. or of a place.

Image, Donald Weber

Documentary photographer Donald Weber's images of life in Russia are haunting, saturated with color and evocative. Based out of Kiev and Moscow, he was recently awarded a spot in PDN's 30 of 2008. He's also worked as an architect and he was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007. smart

Eraserhead

2008-02-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

Watched more Lynch: Dynamic 01: The Best of David Lynch.com. A collection of abstracts. Also watched Eraserhead, with my uncle Phil (dads brother) who is visiting and a retired pastor. He thought it was interesting, confusing and a little weird. Liked the worm baby and the industrial landscape.

2008-02-17T22:06:00.000-08:00

escape

show me the house!

2008-02-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

so, after all this photographing at my childhood house, where is the house?