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Photograms by Jill Specht
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Los Angeles Artist
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The first means of human communication was dance. I do photograms because we must play, especially as adults. I remember dancing alone for hours in my room as a child. I still do the same thing, yet the only difference now is that I’m nude, in complete darkness, and ready to expose onto photographic paper with flash and colored gels.
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Moving with the music allows me to be connected with my breath. The breath leads my body and ‘erases’ my mind so that I can trust the movement. I let intuition take over and use the breath to ground me when I make photograms. Making images and Tai Qi are my meditation practices. The photograms have been part of a self-discovery for 5 years. Through making photograms, I began to study dance and massage therapy.
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At Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Charles (Chuck) Swedlund was an instructor of mine. Swedlund attended the Institute of Design (ID) in Chicago, taught by Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, and was classmates with Edward Steichen. Swedlund encouraged experimentation at the University. After a lecture about Man Ray, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and experimentation with photograms, I took the materials I had that day into the darkroom (my 8"x10" color paper) and undressed. Charles Swedlund and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy greatly influenced my work habit with their drive to create and to continue to change and grow.
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