Janelle Lynch: Another Way of Looking at Love

Janelle Lynch: Another Way of Looking at Love by Aline SmithsonNovember 13, 2018

©Janelle Lynch, Red Berries, from Another Way of Looking at Love

The fragile beauty of Janelle Lynch’s 8 x 10 capture of nature is the subject of a new monograph, Another Way of Looking at Love, published by Radius Books. Another Way of Looking at Love uses delicate landscapes as a “metaphor for our yearning to be connected, while considering the personal, societal, and environmental consequences of disconnection.” From 2015-2018, Janelle considered the natural world from the perspective that humans have a need to connect not only with each other, but with all living things. The result of this examination is a form of landscape/portraiture, honoring the often over-looked beauty of what is right in front of us and providing a deeper inquiry into the nature of seeing. The project is a love letter to the natural world and the book is presented in a way, with accordion-fold pages, that allow for the landscapes to surround the reader, pulling them into a space of beauty, quiet, and spirituality.

Janelle Lynch is an American large-format photographer who has created long-term projects in the United States, Mexico, and Spain. Her photographs are in museum collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of the City of New York; George Eastman Museum; and Brooklyn Museum. She has two monographs published by Radius Books: Los Jardines de México (2010) and AIGA award winning Barcelona (2013), which also featured her writings. Lynch’s work has been exhibited in museums, galleries, and festivals in North America, South America, and Europe. She has had one-person museum shows at the Museo Archivo de la Fotografía, Mexico City, the Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY, where she was the first Artist-in-Residence in 2013. She has received several other awards and honors, including three 8×10 Film Grants from Kodak, and a residency at The Hermitage Artist Retreat for 2017-2019. Lynch’s work has also been widely published. She teaches at the International Center of Photography, and writes about photography for Afterimage, photo-eye, and The Photo Review. In 1999, she received an MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Cover for Another Way of Looking at Love

Accordion-fold pages for Another Way of Looking at Love

Pages from Another Way of Looking at Love

Spread from Another Way of Looking at Love

Spread from Another Way of Looking at Love

Spread from Another Way of Looking at Love

Spread from Another Way of Looking at Love

In Another Way of Looking at Love, the landscape is explored as a metaphor to consider our yearning to be connected and the personal, societal, and environmental consequences of disconnection. I use the 8×10 camera to create still lives in the landscape that combine similar and disparate visual and biological elements. I begin by identifying details in nature that, based on a unique vantage point, create geometric formations of closure. The connective point created by the union becomes my plane of focus. The work is informed by my recent immersion in drawing and painting from perception, primarily by charcoal mark-making—a new aspect of my practice that has allowed for a deeper inquiry into the nature of seeing and the notion of relationality.

The series’ title is from a quote by the philosopher Alain de Botton, who supports Dr. Amy Banks’ neuroscientific research and Relational-Cultural Theory. Dr. Banks’ theory posits that humans are biologically hardwired to connect and that our wellness (and the well-being of our culture and planet) depends on our connections with others and with nature. This three-year project encourages viewers to return to reflections of a natural ideal, to explore our basic human need for connection to nature and, simultaneously, the interconnectedness of all life forms. It also aims to elicit sensitivity and respect at this pivotal moment in our environmental, political, and shared human history.

©Janelle Lynch, Gift, from Another Way of Looking at Love

Darius Himes oversees a global team producing auctions, exhibitions and catalogues as International Head of the Photographs department at Christie’s. Prior to joining Christie’s in Fall 2014, Himes was director of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco from 2011–2014. In 2007, he co-founded Radius Books. He was the founding editor of photo-eye Booklist, a quarterly journal devoted to photography books, which was published from 2002–2007. A lecturer and writer, he has contributed to Aperture, The Photobook Review, Blind Spot, Bookforum, and BOMB. His most recent book, Publish Your Photography Book, was co-authored with Mary Virginia Swanson (Princeton Architectural Press, 2011), with an updated 2nd edition published in 2014. Himes completed his Master of Arts in Liberal Arts at St. John’s College in 2000, and received a BFA in Photography from Arizona State University, having studied under William Jenkins and Bill Jay.