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John Chiara

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Image of Fort Barry at Bonita Point (right)

Fort Barry at Bonita Point (right)
Photograph

2011
50 x 70 in. (127 x 177.8 cm)

John Chiara (San Francisco, California, 1971 - ) Primary

Object Type: Photograph

Medium and Support: Unique photograph on Ilfochrome paper

Credit Line: Museum purchase with funds contributed by the Council of 100

Accession Number: 2013.05

SJMA Label Text

Initial Public Offering: New Works from SJMA’s Permanent Collection (2014)

"I’ve kind of made photography as… labor-intensive as it can be."
-- John Chiara

John Chiara is known for his unique photographic process obtained through the use of a room-sized camera obscura of his own design. Too big to move by hand, Chiara’s photographic device is pulled by a trailer attached to the back of the artist’s truck. Before creating his image, Chiara maneuvers his camera into position, climbs inside it through a makeshift tube, and then takes the better part of a day to frame and focus each shot. He then develops his film in a piece of PVC sewer pipe back at his studio. Though Chiara’s methodology limits his subject matter, since he can shoot only in locations where he can angle his truck to capture the desired scene, his labor intensive process results in distinctive pictures. For this shot, Chiara set up his equipment atop Fort Barry in Sausalito, California. The work is a very effective example of the less obvious views the artist prefers to capture.

Exhibition

Initial Public Offering: New Works from SJMA’s Permanent Collection, March 1, 2014 - August 24, 2014, New Wing, First floor, Gibson Family Gallery and Plaza Gallery, San José Museum of Art.

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