Offering: "Chloe #3", nine one-of-a-kind Fuji Instax photographs, matted and framed.
In May of 2017, These Days, a Los Angeles gallery, store, and publisher, held my first show of photographs, entitled Sexual Fictions. This, from the show's exhibition catalogue/price guide: Jim Camp's exhibition Sexual Fictions is a show of portraits. So why would the word "fiction" be attached to the title, since the tradition of portraiture is usually about getting to some kind of truth about a subject? In this case, the artist's subjects are all pornographic actresses. While most people don't consider what they do for a living as professional acting, make no mistake about it, it is: the come-hither smiles, the costumes, the forced and unimaginative dialogue are all part of an act -- a carefully created fiction.
My statement from the show: "It's always been difficult to make interesting photographs. And lately, away from the photography, I've been working on cut-and-paste collages. The pictures that make up Sexual Fictions came from those two sources: the desire to make something interesting, and deconstructing the model in a way that reminds me of the work I'm doing with an X-Acto knife, some glue, and the imagery I've been pulling apart from various forms of print media. I've loved Polaroids going back to the introduction of the SX-70 Land Camera (I still have the one my parents bought in the mid-'70s), as well as the idea of a "one off" -- no negatives (and certainly no digital file) for reproductions. What you made (literally) comes straight out of the camera...and that's that. Sexual Fictions also addresses the problems I've had with the actual Polaroid print. There's not a whole lot of room to work with, so to speak. So why not not create multiple images to represent a singular whole? (The Polaroid Mosaics of David Hockney were also an influence). Once the imagery is in place, affixing each single image in its "place" to create what eventually winds up in the frame is a subjective experience -- one that changes from person to person. A metaphorical cutting and pasting to create your made-up narrative."
For this series (16 pictures in all that hung at These Days LA) I was primarily influenced by David Hockney and his "photo joiners" / "photo collages / composites".
I asked my friend (mentor and tremendous influence) Eric Kroll for a quote for the catalogue/price guide, and, he delivered for me in his typical Kroll fashion: Jim Camp has photographed (and videotaped) more ass in his professional career than a public toilet seat feels in a week. What we see on these walls, once again, is more about "the taker" than the subject. And I am pleased for that. Camp is bringing my eye and sensibility to her panties, to the pretty blonde's diaphanous boobs. He uses Fuji's Instax Film to deconstruct which allows me to fetishize what remains. He tries to tell me that, with Instax, the only way to photograph a full figure is by cutting her up. Humm. I have to think about that...but these pictures make me feel grateful. I understand that in the "girlie" world it is all about the graphic and with these collaborations within the frame he is making a different connection with his objects of desire and I love that."
The subject of CHLOE 3 is Chloe Cherry, who started her adult film career as Chloe Couture. If you'd like a signature, I'll happily sign the back of the picture. I may be able to get Chloe to sign as well -- but no promises. I've listed the picture at the gallery's pricing.
Check out my store for copies of "Various Self Portraits" (a photozine published by These Days for the Sexual Fictions show), as well as some of the books I've made at the synaesthesia press. I'm also a seller of collectible books and other fun, weird stuff, too...so make sure to follow me as a seller!
Finally, domestic shipping on me; international shipping calculated by eBay's Global Shipping Program.
Thanks!