Friday, November 09, 2007

Debbie Fleming Caffery



I've oscillated back and forth over Debbie Fleming Caffery forever, going from liking her work, to forgetting about it and not finding it that interesting and then going back to liking it again. Her work certainly has style. I sometimes wonder about the substance.


That said, it's extremely evocative. She could be called the master (mistress?) of shadow. I've got a couple of books of hers - one a small French imprint, and another an older but interesting exhibition catalogue.



From a short interview on Photoeye (where there are also some galleries of her work):

"...The attraction I feel to a subject whether it be person, animal, situation or place, develops into a relationship that feels like being in love. I have had a love affair with sugar cane harvesting in Louisiana since l973. I photograph the harvest every season just like the farmer harvests the cane. My work is a visual articulation of an emotional and sensual response to my subjects—to stories heard and the smells and sounds in the environment. I spend years on most of my projects; without the major ingredient of time, these intense relationships would be nonexistent. Each project flows into the other, as can be seen in my new book, The Shadows...."


I noticed she has a a couple of more recent books out - Polly, and The Shadows as mentioned above, though her book Carry Me Home about the Louisiana sugar plantations was her real breakthrough in 1985

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The work of Debbies Fleming Caffery is extremely ominous and unfortable. the use of animals in her work can be disturbing