Wendy Anne Crittenden

Wendy Anne Crittenden has an unusual style for her photography. First, she works almost strictly in 1:1 or square format. And second, she focuses on stuff that is so mundane, most of us fail to notice it. Crittenden hones in on the ordinary, pulling it out of its usual context to illustrate how it is extraordinary. With an intent to answer the question of how we identify both place and importance, Crittenden's work requires us to rethink what is beautiful, and what is home. She took the time to answer a few questions about her philosophies and techniques.

Some of my favorite images of yours stand out to me primarily because of your crop -- you use squares. Tell us about your reasons for this.
I continue to hold on to the traditional mindset that framing occurs in camera; I don’t crop post-production, instead I use and own multiple cameras specifically for their film formats. For the past six years I have been shooting square format specifically for the challenges and historical traits inherent to its shape. It is not only the most difficult format to compose with, but historically the square is used to present images as icons (as opposed to verticals and horizontals, which are historically used for portraiture and landscapes, respectively). I use the square as a means to push the historical standard and force the square to hold elements of landscape. My intention is to make compositions that break rules, are hard to accept and challenge expectations; in doing, the resulting images are strikingly powerful.

What do you look for in a subject?
My subject matter is more about the act of my wandering though unfamiliar place – a search for relics of place, to witness the transition of place. I obsess on space versus place. What makes space place? At what point does place cease to be place and return back to space? There is no easy answer. Elements are destined to fold back into the landscape, to become part of space, ceasing to create place.

I am also a visual trickster. Not every situation or place allows for this, but when it presents itself I fully take advantage of it.

How does color factor in to your images?
Color is another element of composition for me, I prefer bright colors, but lately have been shooting in desert places and am getting accustomed to a somewhat muted palette. I push the film in order to saturate the color, on top of overexposing – the result is quite punchy.

You recently graduated with a Master's in photography. Tell us about what it's like to go through school as a photography student.
I entered grad school at a time when digital phased out traditional processing. Literally. The year I entered my school’s program was the year they tore out the color processing room and transformed it into a full-fledged digital workspace. This was happening at all of the schools I had been accepted into. I love the darkroom, for color and black and white. It is peaceful, meditative, and I get into a rhythm that I cannot mimic anywhere else in my life. In order to get through grad school as a photography student who still uses film and at that time printed my own images, I frequented the rental darkroom Rayko. I believe I was the only grad student in my year that was solely using film and making c-prints, I believe only one other was still using film, but printing digitally. It’s not that I don’t know how to work digitally, as I assist an artist who only uses digital, it’s that I love pushing film itself as a medium and c-prints by far still look better than digital prints to me.

Has the job market been kind to you after graduation?
No. I graduated into a recession, it was kind to no one. But I am by no means looking for a photo-based job. I just make art - photography, drawings, prints – when I have time in between my non-art jobs that I maintain in order to support my art production. I specifically avoid any and all commercial jobs that involve photography as such jobs turn me against my love for it.

You've mentioned that you use film, and it seems film is making a comeback among photographers. What makes you want to use it?
The most important reason is an aesthetic reason; I can do things with film that don’t quite translate digitally. The look I aim for is a very saturated look, but not always clearly defined. In order to achieve this look I overexpose and overdevelop, each situation I am in calls for a different way of shooting. If you look at my shadows, this overexposure an over development gives so much more information and light in the shadows.

I shoot somewhat with gut feeling; I used to shoot extremely technically, planning my zones, but it’s just not exciting to get so technically drawn into photography. That’s another reason why I avoid digital, I am not a tech junkie, it bores me to pieces and takes all the fun out of photography.

What gear do you use?
Currently I am shooting a Rollei SL66, which is a very new addition to my collection. My other square format is a Hasselblad 500C/M. I can’t think outside of the square at this moment, but when I do, I have a Mamiya 645 that I adore and the sexy power animal of a machine known as the Mamiya RB67. Seriously, the RB is totally a sexy tank of a camera.

What photographers have inspired or influenced your work the most?
William Eggleston is my main influence, along with Andre Kertesz, Lee Freelander and the films of Jacques Tati. Otherwise I don’t usually find inspiration from photography, I find it in other places like books, film and my imagination.

Any projects you're currently working on or have in mind that you're willing to share with us?
My current projects are all drawing projects. I have a couple of photo projects in my mind, involving a couple of places. One includes my annual trip to Montana to visit the parents, cameras in tow. There are places I scoped out last year that I really want to explore this year, I wasn’t really itching to do so before. There are some more local places, but I am not ready to reveal them at this time.

And finally -- what keeps you clicking your camera every day?
I don’t. I take trips here and there and click an extraordinary amount of film on each trip. What triggers it, though, is a strong drive of personal curiosity and problem solving. The process of making art for me has always been about the challenge of making it, of making something new, pushing boundaries, pushing the medium, pushing expectations, creating in a way that hasn’t been done before. Whether or not any or all of these markers are reached, doesn’t matter, I just need the trigger to keep me going.

Find out more about Wendy Ann Crittenden and explore her artwork on her website.