Michael Eastman creates some wonderfully “painted” photographs. Using mostly 4 x 5 systems, he crafts carefully composed and studied images of interiors and building-scapes. They are almost exclusively color photographs and tend to lack any sort of human interaction (save for the fact that the pictures always depict the “remains” of human endeavors). Eastman tends to look for places of solitude and emptiness; his exteriors are almost always photographed on cloudy or overcast days while the interiors are typically lush and saturated.
Take Eastman’s “Arenal” from his Cuba series. The photo is of an old theater that is heavily aged and blanketed by a looming grayness. The once lush paint job is withering away to a sort of pastel palette that sad, yet inviting. Contrast that to “Red Bathroom,” a perfectly arranged and preserved lavatory that is super-saturated in red and warm tones making for a very lively and inviting space (in spite of its perfection).
Eastman has turned his eye for alignment towards a number of subjects (landscapes, reflections, architectural spaces, and horses). With his most recent body of work, Vanishing America, Eastman handsomely captures the persistence of decay of a quickly fading America. From theaters to drugstores to shotgun houses, Eastman applies his signature vision to recording structures as they are now - in their old age - with a whisper of nostalgia and handfuls of love. he exposes the scars and remains for all to see, but not in pitiful sort of way. The buildings display a strength in their solitary compositions, not begging to be restored, but proud in their old age. Many of the images have a “Hopper-esque” feel to them, like “Cairo, Illinois,” which bears more than just a passing semblance to Edward Hoppers, “Early Sunday Morning.” Unlike Hopper’s painting, though, the buildings in “Cairo, Illinois,” are not sleeping, but are dormant and in a permanent state of hibernation; proudly awaiting vines or the wrecking ball.
Another majestic building is found in “Shotgun House, New Orleans.” Photographed from a slight worm’s eye point of view, that gives the building (which is presumably abandoned) its stateliness. The building is transformed from sad relic to a powerful but wounded foot soldier.
Eastman’s skill at containing the disorder in the world is inherent throughout his work, he finds peace in the storm and jewels in the decay. His search for the sturdy and derelict structures in the world result in such luscious imagery that it is a terrible shame that his Vanishing America series is collected in book form so poorly. Rizzoli’s,Vanishing America: The End of Main Street Diners, Drive-Ins, Donut Shops, and Other Everyday Monuments is a 180+ page mess. Beginning with the title, Vanishing America… is overflowing with poorly reproduced images. Worst than that there seems to be little to no thought as to the layout of the book. Images are not given the respect that the are do and there is no breathing room for the images. Pages are often crammed together as if the publisher wants the viewer to gorge themselves on the pictures within the book. Perhaps Rizzoli wants this introduction of Eastman’s quest to be a successful coffeee-table book and sees the market for this book as simple fast-food readers; those that flip through once and use the book as a coaster after they are done. It is a truly shameful book.
For better reproductions and better presented images please visit the artist’s website at eastmanimages.com. His work can also be found at DNJ gallery in Los Angeles
SB
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