April 20, 2002  -  June 8, 2002
Stephen A. Fisher at the Photolab Gallery
IMAGES IN JUXTAPOSITION:
Recurring Compositions in Photographs of Landscapes, Cities, People (1950 - 2001) 

One of the main things I try to do with my photographs is to look for certain types of simple or strong compositions or visual contexts in which to present the subject that interests me.  

This show juxtaposes pairs or groups of these repeated compositions which I have used in different times and  different places in photographing scenery and people.

Other photographs were taken mainly in the Bay Area and Northern California and New York City as well as in places where I've traveled including France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Australia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Hawaii, Alaska, and Montana. 

I like photographs that show more than just a single subject, where the photograph has something important going on in both the foreground and background.

Sometimes, I deliberately repeat pictorial ideas I have used before in a different setting. However, in reviewing long past photographs, I find I also unconsciously seek to do the same type of composition again.  In this exhibit you will see pairs like this taken decades apart, each echoing the other.

Important influences for me include my parents, especially my mother's interest in the museums and art of New York City where I grew up.  

Mostly, I  have learned photography from looking at many photographs over the years, including fine art photography and particularly photojournalism

Early on I saw movies, film shorts and newsreels with my father. Cinematography has been an important influence in my photography. Painting has also been an important influence on my photographic ideas. The photograph above left (Table and chairs on a porch, Maui, 1995) is reminiscent of an Edward Hopper painting.

I took courses in filmmaking at the Berkeley Film Institute, which no longer exists, and the San Francisco Art Institute. 

My professional career has been in psychiatry, including working in hospitals and particularly in community mental health programs, in which I continue to work in San Francisco. 

Stephen A. Fisher, Berkeley, California
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