A Summer Treat

Untitled 01 © Stephen Frailey

It took me the whole summer to figure out how bold or naive I was being, to think I could write about my favorite photographs.  This only started because first, I want to share this work so badly, but second, I also kind of don't want to share it.  It probably is a mutual feeling for anyone who ever had a really good secret recipe you wanted to keep under your mattress.  However, it's not hard to admit what a huge privilege it is to share this work with you.

Untitled 02 © Stephen Frailey

Thanks to a dear friend who found this book a few years ago, I came to know Stephen Frailey's work. Perhaps these are documents of creations by an undercover scientist, I thought.  Or maybe they are excerpts from a secret industrial catalogue. They may just be a collection of objects we find in dreams.  Without too much information on the images presented in the book, my interest only deepened and an affection has  developed for the work, as much of it has remained mysterious.

Untitled 03 © Stephen Frailey

The works presented here are my post-discovery-of-the-book-from-an-alley-cat (I'll leave it up to you to find the book. Rumour has it there is place that begins with "Dash" and ends in "wood", that had carried it).  These images were sent to me a couple summers ago from the artist.  I didn't ask him a single question regarding the work, hoping for myself to stay curious. Still along the same lines as the past body of work presented in his book, these specific images have a slight reminiscence of a set on an empty stage to me.  They are strong and charming, with a witty balance between the prominent structure and the playful cut-outs.  How delightful would it be to see them as sculpture?  the objects seem to be treated delicately, but with great respect. The photographer behind the camera must be working alone in a quiet room enjoying the pleasantries of solitude.

Untitled 04 © Stephen Frailey

Offering me a photographic glossary in this visual dictionary I discover each meaning has strange new definitions.  I only yearn to see more and more as the summer continues.

Untitled 05 © Stephen Frailey

Ina Jang (Foam Magazine #28/Talent)