Photography & Film
SUSAN B. PHILLIPS
New York-Based Fine Art Photographer
New York-Based Fine Art Photographer
Photo Courtesy: Susan Phillips
For this spotlight, we asked Susan to focus on her photography; however, she is also passionate about collage. Susan discusses her love of photography, her inspirations, and how she "sees" beyond what others might perceive as encounters with the ordinary.
What do you love about fine art photography as opposed to other mediums?
What do you love about fine art photography as opposed to other mediums?
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I have been working in photography for over 40 years. I have always loved doing it. This medium is all about capturing one moment in time that will never be exactly the same again – that ‘decisive moment’ as Henri Cartier-Bresson so aptly called it.
It took quite a while for photography to be recognized as a legitimate fine art category. Unlike a painting, which you can change at will, or a sculpture, which takes time, a photograph is captured the moment you activate the shutter button. I desire to capture the essence of what I’ve stopped to photograph and hope that my audience will understand and respond. What are some of your inspirations? Water and reflective surfaces seem to be some of the subjects you’re attracted to. I walk around taking photographs all the time. I respond to colors, shapes, abstractions and anything/everything connected to water – puddle reflections, rain, snow, or shooting through wet windows, etc. I see beauty in puddles, and I've have spent a lot of time gazing at or photographing through wet surfaces. When I'm out taking photographs, I am energized by my surroundings, never knowing what great photo may be lurking around the next corner. I search for the aesthetic possibilities in mundane things that are often overlooked by people rushing by, images and objects others have perhaps seen, but not really ‘seen,’ a million times. I study large areas of torn papers until I find what I consider to be a fabulous composition. My series ‘Torn Elegance’ is the newest portfolio that I am currently working on. |
Puddle Reflection (Reflections Series)
© Susan B. Phillips |
Could you explain the inspiration behind your "Rain" series? In these images, the raindrops have made the colors and shapes more beautiful.
When I shoot during a rainstorm, usually through a car window and often asking the driver to turn off the wipers, I am simply always amazed at how water transforms everything and magnifies color.
When I shoot during a rainstorm, usually through a car window and often asking the driver to turn off the wipers, I am simply always amazed at how water transforms everything and magnifies color.
Rain Series
© Susan B. Phillips |
Rain Series
© Susan B. Phillips |
What was your reason for highlighting the woman's face upside down, without the balance of an upright view in your shot titled Houston Street?
Hopefully, the upside down images in my ‘Momentary Reflection’ series cause viewers to be temporarily caught off balance, so that they have to stop and consider exactly what they are looking at, as demonstrated in ‘Crosby Street.’ The shot of the woman’s face in a puddle (see ‘Houston Street’) is just what I saw when gazing into a very large puddle on Houston. I recorded it for history. Perhaps no one else saw it that day or at that exact moment in time.
Hopefully, the upside down images in my ‘Momentary Reflection’ series cause viewers to be temporarily caught off balance, so that they have to stop and consider exactly what they are looking at, as demonstrated in ‘Crosby Street.’ The shot of the woman’s face in a puddle (see ‘Houston Street’) is just what I saw when gazing into a very large puddle on Houston. I recorded it for history. Perhaps no one else saw it that day or at that exact moment in time.
Crosby Street
© Susan B. Phillips |
Houston Street
© Susan B. Phillips |
In general, what do you hope the viewer takes away while contemplating your various series?
I ask the viewer to join me and contemplate how things are magnificently altered while looking ‘through’ water, whether at a puddle, a pond reflection, or by simply gazing at a wet window during a rainstorm. Observed this way, all is transitory and ephemeral – perhaps a surreal, alternate reality if you allow yourself to be drawn in by it. I like to challenge the viewer’s sense of reality.
In all of my work, I hope to transcend the 'ordinary’ of the commonplace and afford the willing viewer an opportunity to see the world in an unconventional, fresh way.
I ask the viewer to join me and contemplate how things are magnificently altered while looking ‘through’ water, whether at a puddle, a pond reflection, or by simply gazing at a wet window during a rainstorm. Observed this way, all is transitory and ephemeral – perhaps a surreal, alternate reality if you allow yourself to be drawn in by it. I like to challenge the viewer’s sense of reality.
In all of my work, I hope to transcend the 'ordinary’ of the commonplace and afford the willing viewer an opportunity to see the world in an unconventional, fresh way.
Puddle Reflection (Reflections Series)
© Susan B. Phillips |
Rain Series
© Susan B. Phillips |
Is there a contemporary woman photographer whose work you admire or whose work inspires you?
I admire Vivien Maier’s (1926 - 2009) work. She was an American who traveled often between Europe and the U.S. and came back to New York City in 1951. Having picked up photography in 1949, she would walk the streets of New York City refining her artistic craft while working as a nanny by day. She had documented city life for over 50 years in both New York City and Chicago, but her negatives were not discovered until after her death. She never sought fame, fortune or representation. She just absolutely loved photography.
Where do you find sanctuary?
I find sanctuary being any place where I am immersed in nature – my home nestled in the woods in Upstate New York where I can garden, enjoy the trees, observe the birds and wildlife, inhale the clean air and see the magnificent stars at night. I also find sanctuary visiting national parks located in the East and the West where I can marvel at the mountains and rock formations that nature has provided. I love going to art museums to engage with artists both past and present whose intelligence and vision I can learn from. Listening to music is also an escape that moves my soul. And I still find it calming to sit with longtime friends and just talk.
I admire Vivien Maier’s (1926 - 2009) work. She was an American who traveled often between Europe and the U.S. and came back to New York City in 1951. Having picked up photography in 1949, she would walk the streets of New York City refining her artistic craft while working as a nanny by day. She had documented city life for over 50 years in both New York City and Chicago, but her negatives were not discovered until after her death. She never sought fame, fortune or representation. She just absolutely loved photography.
Where do you find sanctuary?
I find sanctuary being any place where I am immersed in nature – my home nestled in the woods in Upstate New York where I can garden, enjoy the trees, observe the birds and wildlife, inhale the clean air and see the magnificent stars at night. I also find sanctuary visiting national parks located in the East and the West where I can marvel at the mountains and rock formations that nature has provided. I love going to art museums to engage with artists both past and present whose intelligence and vision I can learn from. Listening to music is also an escape that moves my soul. And I still find it calming to sit with longtime friends and just talk.
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Susan B. Phillips is an artist who resides in New York City and Woodstock, New York. Her mediums are photography and collage.
She is an active participant of the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum and the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA), where she has been the Gallery Coordinator for over 15 years. Susan is a member of the Women Photographers Collective of the Hudson Valley, the Center for Photography in Kingston, New York, the International Center for Photography in New York City, and the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild. She is represented by Emerge Gallery in Saugerties, New York. Susan recently received The Suzanne M Bianchi Award for Photography from The National Association of Women Artists. In 2018, she received the highest photography award from the same organization (Jurors: Anita Rogers, Anita Rogers Gallery NYC, Lisa Small, Senior Curator European Art, Brooklyn Museum). In 2019, she was granted a European art residency at Arte Studio Ginestrelle (Assisi, Italy). Her photographs have been published in New York Magazine, Art Ascent, The Fat Canary, and The Catskill Region Guide. She continues to expand her photography portfolios, and her collage compositions are ongoing. |
Rain Series
© Susan B. Phillips |
