Color Me Softly: Kathleen McIntyre

Color Me Softly: Kathleen McIntyre by Michael HoneggerOctober 30, 2024

©Kathleen McIntyre, Color Me Softly

As you dive into the rainbow array of colors in Kathleen McIntyre‘s monograph, Color Me Softly, you are free to roam and let your imagination and creativity bond with that of the artist/photographer. The Japanese bound book is carefully arranged to allow the viewer to manipulate the colors, the reflections and the pages themselves to create and recreate a visual world of your own choosing. McIntyre’s dreamy and gauzy images are fertile ground for mixing and matching and all of this is aided by a color sequence throughout the book that adds to the urge to explore and experiment. One clever aspect of the design of the book is that no one image is static on a page…each page consists of three-quarters of an image with the remaining quarter on the next page. This unusual sequencing gives the viewer room to roam backwards and forwards in innumerable permutations bounded only by the binding of the book and one’s imagination.

©Kathleen McIntyre, Folding Demo of Color Me Softly

This unique design element gives the viewer much to experience as one begins an almost compulsive need to fold and unfold the book’s French fold pages. According to McIntyre, “I wish with this book to give room for contemplation and imagination.” She does that with myriad images that emanate from her focus on reflections, gauzy moments in space and time as well as the mystery of shadows. As the title clearly suggests, color is the primary ingredient that draws one into the book. The gradual transitions from one color palette to another are subtle but decidedly apparent as you make your way through the images. It is even apparent when the book is at rest as a color scale is vividly present on its side.

©Kathleen McIntyre, Spread from Color Me Softly

McIntyre explains that “Color Me Softly is a collection of my photographs from the last 15 years, presented through a given color scale, exploring new ways of reading and presenting an image. It has 73 unique images (which are all “one shot”, no layers or double exposures). They each contain their own story which is up to the reader to interpret with their own experiences in mind and way of seeing. They have no titles for that reason. All the photographs are edited so that they extend across the fold of the page, meaning that part of the image is visible on one side and the rest on the next. You have to turn the page to see the rest of the image. This method encourages a deliberate approach to each image, allowing for a focused examination of one half at a time. It counters the impulse for instant gratification and the tendency to see everything at once, which has become so common today. At the same time this new assembly of the photographic work gives a whole new experience of the images for the reader. It brings a connection and an expanded experience and understanding of the images beyond their presentation as stand-alone pieces. They become an expanded version of a diptych, the juxtaposition of the images creates a dialogue and space between them that opens and allows for personal interpretation, encouraging readers to create their own meanings behind each individual image and between the images themselves. There are multiple ways of taking in this book. You can find, by bending one page either way, a triptych or you can press down one image in the middle to see it entirely. One can play around to find endless connections between triptychs and quadriptych. The recognizability of my photographic expression makes the assembly of images and their dialogue possible. Since the images span across the folds, the color scale will be visible from the outside, before the book is opened. This creates a connection to the title and sparks curiosity. It becomes an object in itself before opening. My hope is for Color Me Softly to give a chance to take time to contemplate and to fire up the imagination. I think we, in this troubled world, need a break and I hope this book may contribute a tiny bit to that.”

©Kathleen McIntyre, Spread from Color Me Softly

©Kathleen McIntyre, Spread from Color Me Softly

©Kathleen McIntyre, Spread from Color Me Softly

Kathleen McIntyre was born in California, of an American father and Norwegian mother. She moved to Norway when she was six when her father passed away. Now a Norwegian citizen, she works and lives in Oslo with her family. Her photographic career began in a darkroom, but she has gradually transitioned to digital color work. She is represented by Gallery Ramfjord in Oslo for many years and has exhibited internationally as well.

Instagram: @art_by_mcintyre