One of the most emotional and captivating photographic artists would have to be Jon Crispin. He shows abandoned asylum wards and the suitcases of long gone patients in a personal and touching light. Crispin uses and extreme focal lens
in order to get as close up and personal with his subjects while also
maintaining a sharp and vivid quality. I
had the privelige of watching him work on a video posted along with one of his
interviews. Crispin uses a white or gray drop and carefully placed studio
lights. Crispin mentions that when he was younger, and even now, he would
often let his curiosity drive him
trespass onto abandoned property. Nonetheless, Crispin pays careful attention
to color and light, green rooms need only a splash of yellow invite the viewer
to stay a while I could tell that he wouldn’t take one shot until he knew how
to capture the essence of whose belongings these were or who dwelled in the
environment he was attempting to capture.
That is what Crispin does, he
captures moments frozen in time. His style reflects his concern for the way
prisoners, mental patients and other “unheard voices” were treated in
contemporary and modern times as well. He
also delves heavily into his concerns on poverty, forever taking the time to
step back and have a moment with the people he is filming just to tell them
that someone cares and is going to give them a voice.
From all of the photographers that
I have posted about recently, Crispin has to be the most emotional for me. I
love hearing about an artist that cares as much about asylum patients as I do.
Crispin speaks of feeling an emotional connection with each patient’s suitcase.
During those moments I can only imagine how this project felt to him like a
grand experience, a connection with a world out of his time, that far exceeds
being a mere project anymore. For a photographer to drop his camera and just
feel the presence of his subject’s spirit is profound and inspiring.
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