The past five years have demonstrated an increased attention to process-based photography. Often-coined “The New Formalism,” this work has received both salivating acclaim and hate-heavy criticism for its test of photographic material, asking a nearly recycled question: “What is a photograph?” New York-based artist Charlie Rubin’s constantly evolving work unapologetically removes this from the conversation and age-old photography ghetto with thoughtful photo-based images that speak to a more open and inclusive approach of making and looking at art.
Since his childhood, Brandan Gomez has been perplexed with religious narratives and mythology, and his inability to find proof – spiritual or scientific—of their real-life foundations. His recent series Mystica X is a visual quest to make sense of this uncertainty and his ongoing challenge in contemplating what he sees as their lack of conviction.
Since photography’s early days, photographers have explored human relationships to the natural world at countless angles, from Ansel Adams’ glorifications of the national parks to The New Topographics’ flat, and often typological views of industrial and suburban development. While at times, it might appear that this terrain has been done to death, Christopher Rodríguez’ series Between Artifice and the Sublime offers a sad, yet refreshing meditation on our constantly evolving place in the American landscape.
Houston, Texas-based Phillip Kremer won't reveal much about his process, influence or motivations, but his faceless portraits are some of the scariest creations you'll find online. With subjects ranging from scientists, astronauts and random children celebrating their birthdays to political figures and celebrities like Snoop Dogg and "The Situation", his morphed portraits have drawn a vast and diverse fan base, largely outside the art world and photo communities, and have amassed followers ranging from Katy Perry to Christian youth groups.
Jamie Campbell’s cat photographs are not intended to be an over-arching dive into the emotional capacities of his feline friends, nor are they easily dismissible as short-lived memes. Like many of the photographers included in Humble Arts Foundation's 2014 exhibition “New Cats in Art Photography,” they are intermediary muses that serve as thoughtful pauses between his commercial work and long-term personal projects.