Photographer Does His
Best Work in the Dark
An interview with Tim Baskerville
by Laura McInstry
Outside of Gallery Sanchez, located in the Noe
Valley Ministry at 1021 Sanchez Street, the shrill drilling
of construction crews disrupts what could be a quiet, sunny
day. But inside, as Noe Valley resident Tim Baskerville speaks
softly about the peacefulness of night photography, the noisy
sounds of daytime fade into the background.
Baskerville is curator
for "The Nocturnes," a night photography
exhibit at the gallery through Nov. 22. The show features
Baskerville's work, as well as that of nine other photographers,
Doug Burgess, John Chan, Steve Harper, Lance Keimig, Nathan
LaBudde, Wende Lee, Tom Paiva, Mari Stefonetti, and Chris
Sullivan. A night photographer for the past 10 years, Baskerville
produces photos that are distinctly different from those
taken when the sun is out.
"With straight photography, a lot
of things tend to be things you find [in] the moment, the
snapshot effect," he notes. "With
night photography, there is more mystery, more of an artistic
approach." Baskerville's prints are the result of a careful
and involved process, one that is affected by many variables.
Since he is dealing with darkness, exposure times for one shot
can range from a few seconds up to eight hours. "ln the city,
you can keep your exposure times shorter," he explains. But "with
landscapes, such as the beach or Marin Headlands, the process
is even more involved."
If Baskerville's work looks somewhat
unrealistic and strange, there are a number of good reasons
for it. "With long exposures,
the duration of time changes what you see," and often common
sights "are totally altered by night," he says. Possibly
the most notable effect of long exposure times is the appearance
of "star trails." Photographed stars don't appear as pinpoints,
but rather as bright lines of varying length, streaked across
the sky-an effect caused by the earth's rotation during exposure. "You
can see the passage of time and space - that line conveys
that," Baskerville
says with a certain audible pride.
An important consideration
for night photographers in the Bay Area is fog. But this
unpredictable, uncontrollable force of nature poses no great
problem for Baskerville. "I use the fog," he
says. "The fog is a great blender of light. It takes a variety
of aberrant light sources and blends them together, so they
mix and appear more natural." Although Baskerville describes
his craft as "pseudo-scientific," he still finds room for excitement
over the possibilities for artistic expression. "Surrealism,
the mystery of place, solitude, and a heightened sense of the
nature of things-night photography seems a worthy vehicle,
a ritual to express these themes," he says.
When he first took
up photography 15 years ago, Baskerville attended classes
and workshops at the Academy of Art College, the Headlands
Center for the Arts, and U.C. Berkeley Extension. At the time,
however, he was working two jobs and driving a cab part-time,
which left little space to squeeze in any photography, save
between jobs and late at night. But "the night shift," with
its "dark, cold, strange hours," held an appeal for Baskerville.
He began to focus more and more on night photography, until
his work, he recalls, took a noticeable turn after the October
1989 earthquake. "After the earthquake, the freeways and
the industrial areas that were hit hard provided a lot of
motivation to convey not so much the devastation, but the
change, the vulnerability of these areas." His work matured
at this point, he believes, and led to a one-year scholarship
from the Academy of Art College, beginning in February. Even
after 10 years of midnight madness, Baskerville remains intrigued
with his art.
Most recently, he has been working on a new
technique superimposing a negative image onto a positive
one. "I take two images at night
and combine them," he explains. "It's more manipulated, but
is still true to the overall feel of the night - the mystery
of it." With "The Nocturnes" exhibit, Baskerville says he wants
to display the diversity and range of night photography, which,
he adds, "doesn't have to be this realistic landscape look.
I was looking for more of a variety . . . a nice blend of different
people's visions." Fall, notes Baskerville, is prime time for
Bay Area night photographers to do their work. "With warm weather,
it's comfortable to be out," he says. "A lot of night photography
is done in the Bay Area because it's a good overall climate
for being outdoors. . . with natural areas close by. "As we
go into winter, the nights are longer, and the sun sets sooner.
It's a nice time for this show." Gallery Sanchez is open Monday
through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. On November 3, 1991
a reception for the artists in "The Nocturnes" will be held
from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
CURATOR'S STATEMENT
Darkness comes early this time of year. It's the end of the
harvest, and winter is coming (in a big way this year?) The
band Blue Rubies rehearse their druidic mantras, blending
Leonard Cohen, Curtis Mayfield, the Clash, et al. into
a deathly brew. The Rituals - Day of the Dead , Halloween,
Samhain (the Celtic New Year), and the upcoming winter
solstice - have become important to us. The Prevailing
Imagery- death and destruction (and a day that looked like
night) in the Oakland Hills, senseless death in the stormy
Sonoma night [a reference to the late Bill Graham], the anniversaries
of the runaway car accident in Noe Valley, and Loma Prieta
(Dark Hill) - is embedded in our collective psyche. And These
Images - the deadly stillness of alien landscapes, the decaying
autos, buildings, freeways , graveyards, and monuments; forms
that echo ancient Celtic dolmens and passagegraves; Death
Row and Death Valley, in "living color" -
all touch us, and hopefully bring us closer to an understanding of our
fragile relationship with the world around us. What we
call our life.
I did not set out to curate a show with decay,
destruction, and death as thematic goals. Certainly,
some aspects of the nocturne do concern themselves with these
and other related themes. And even in this exhibit there
are notable hold-outs from these themes. But the overall
sense in viewing these pieces is one of mystery, of deathly
quiet, of hinted at rituals, of people-less landscapes.
Darkness
does come early this time of year.
Tim Baskerville
Curator
The Nocturnes
November, 1991 |