“I’ve given this land back to god,
Though it was never really mine.
I’ll pay the taxes and be its steward,
While I’m alive and feeling fine.
I hope the next taxpayer will be its steward,
And let God keep his land when I’m dead.
So come sit and see God in all his glory,
And reflect on what I’ve said.”

–Just another Steward…
In the year of our Lord 2004, June.

The above quote summarizes my body of work entitled Native. Eastern North Carolina is home to a wide array of people who shape the very landscape they live in. From farmers to fishermen, my grandfather was one of these people, and through the use of panoramic landscapes, I’ve tried to capture an environmental fingerprint of sorts to show his humble origins and that of others like him. I’ve photographed without the physical presence of people, yet captured clues of their presence. The use of the panoramic format and long exposures helps show the passing of time and the expansiveness of the area, and how its fellow stewards shape it.

I was inspired to do this body of work because as soon as I arrived in eastern North Carolina, I felt a sense of belonging to the area. I was intrigued by the history in the area, the small communities, and the overall vastness of the land in the region. I felt limited by the standard 35mm frame and ratio; there was so much more I wanted to fit in the frame. I felt a long vertical or horizontal panoramic format would be the best solution. The project also served as a means to explore part of my heritage. All of the images in this series were shot with a Nikon d200 with a 24mm lens with distortion correction. I used a polarizer and a solid neutral density filter combined with an f22 aperture on a tripod to achieve long exposures, that way I could pick up movement. Each image is made up of 4 or more photographs that were stitched together manually in Photoshop, then toned in black and white. The final images are around 13”x50″ inches give or take. The final image in this series (the dog with the makeshift sign) was taken in Stumpy point, North Carolina, A small remote fishing village near the outer banks, and also the hometown of my grandfather. I felt the sign itself perfectly summed up what I was trying to say with this body of work. The quote at the beginning of my artist statement is taken directly from the sign.

About the Author:

Todd is a recent graduate of East Carolina University located in Greenville, North Carolina. He Received his BFA in Photography. As a child he was always creative, and has a twin brother who is a photojournalist. They both inspired each other’s creative endeavors when they were younger. When his brother picked up a camera, Todd eventually did as well and he has been at it for around 6 years now. Growing up, he lived all over the south and southern themes and imagery frequently show up in his work.

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Our approach to photography has changed a lot in the past couple of years. Our main goal now is to become full-fledged cinematographers. One thing that you learn by making films is that the story is the key. Your whole universe resides within the text. You could be shooting a film with a HI8 camera and still make something amazing if you have a good story. A good photographic process will also come from your relations to your subject and your life experiences. You need to learn to trust your instincts; this is where the creativity comes from.

The process of creating a photographic atmosphere should be determined by an idea and a story. What am I trying to say here? Digital technology and the general instantaneity of still photography tend to take away from that. Don’t get me wrong this can lead to amazing results. But, the process of thinking something through and visualization can be an awesome experience. We actually recently bought a 4×5 camera for this exact purpose. We were tired of shooting away.

Now that we have an idea, what do we do next? We steal! Not literally! A good project will always start with some good research and references, especially when you are working with a partner (like us). This way you can communicate your idea clearly. Of course, genius ideas can always come to you (especially at 2am when you don’t want to get out of bed to take a note). But, good research into what you are doing might open some new doors or even make you realize that you should be rethinking your project. Most of the time what you’ll find as reference material will only solidify your idea and vision. The relationship you have to your subject will be heavily dependent on how much you know. It’s like reading a script 15 times and knowing each character like they were your friends. At that point you dive into your project with great confidence and dexterity. Of course, what you need is a cue – copying is never a good thing. Any good artist out there knows that once you’re on the shoot there is no way you could copy someone. You are way too concentrated on the creative work at hand.

Usually, from that point on you have pretty good idea of what you want your project to look like. This is where it gets critical. You have to stick with your look while leaving some place for new ideas and improvements. Your guts are 90% of your work and upon arriving on your shoot you’ll start to see new things. At that point it’s important to keep focused on what you’re doing (not forgetting your main idea) while letting the shoots’ energy and chemistry seep in. This is usually where the magic happens. A good dose of wild and unbridled creativity is always good.

It gets even more critical in post-production. This is the part where you really need to get your ideas straight. Post can become intensive when you find yourself spending too much time tweaking the reds and tuning down the greens in the shadows. “Oh hell! Why not dodge the whole sky!” Post should exist only to accentuate your work. Unfortunately, like we all know, we use this process more often to fix errors. Which brings us back to our planning and creative research process. Start well, end well, and don’t go too far in post! You just end up hurting your images and your wallet. It’s ok to say “I’m done!”.

The cinematic process we now use to prepare most of our shoots has helped us visualize our ideas, which is the key to creating any good photographic atmosphere. The whole idea of making a film is having the right universe around the story. Plan it, see it, bring all your visual tools to the shoot and give it a killer look in post. It might not be true for everyone but it’s definitely helped us.

About the Artists:
Chuck & Twist is a collective of long time friends that are passionate about cinematography and photography. We are also multidisciplinary artists that will strive to envision your story, message or idea with color and panache.

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My photographs analyze the relationship between humanity and environment in a muted and simple manner.  In the broadest sense, all humans identify with an environment, whether on a macro level of habitation and commerce or locally through interactions within ones culture.  My purpose in examining this relationship with a camera is to document the effects that humanity brands upon its environment, whether visible or obscured.  The resulting images illustrate a simultaneous portrait of domain, human existence and control – byproducts of a relationship that all individuals have with the space around them.

In the series Signs of American Life I examine a unique characteristic of the remote American landscape.  Often, when traveling throughout the United States, outside of major urban centers, I have felt a loneliness due to the landscape’s foreignness and the distance from other humans and familiarities.  Many times when I felt this isolation, I quickly realized than in fact other humans were close by or had been very recently, leaving signs of their presence.  A picnic bench, portable toilets, a forgotten tourist destination and even humans themselves became evidence that the seclusion I had initially felt while traveling had transformed.  Instead, these scenes produced a bizarre sense of comfort knowing that I was not truly isolated, but the disconnect I felt with the unfamiliar environment continued to remain.  The photographs taken in this series express that what is familiar and unfamiliar can coexist in a single image and are frequently closer than I imagine.

All photographs in Signs of American Life were taken with available light at each location.  A Hasselblad 500c/m using 50mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses and color negative film was used to create the images.  I felt the muted color palette of negative film matched well with the lonely subject matter of the isolated landscape.  The 6×6cm film was processed normally then scanned to create digital files.  Minimal post-production effects were applied to each image, with the intention of translating only traditional darkroom techniques such as exposure, color correction and dodging/burning to computer software.

About the Author

Stephen Tamiesie lives and works in Santa Barbara, CA.  He has been included in various exhibitions including “Brooks Institute’s 60^th Anniversary Retrospective” at The Javits Center, New York City and “Discover America” at Dorothy Polley Gallery, Paris, France.  His work has been published by Esquire, McCann-Erickson Worldwide and is included in the private collection of Marriott International, Inc.

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