This exhibition at the Galleon Coffee Bar runs until the end of the month and it is well worth a visit. Unusually, the photographer’s social media presence is limited to Instagram, but what a following she has on there and you can see why.
Caran’s images depict a cinematic feel, shooting only on 35mm film and using dark room techniques, that feeling of serendipity that is sometimes lost in digital photography is alive and well and screaming visually from the walls.
A good photographer aspires to tell stories, to draw the viewer into their world. The exhibition is titled: Gossip, Fashion, Glitter – is what we are up against! If her images are a response to her show title, or even if the title came much later, she has surely succeeded.
The images are beautiful but surreal; images of gorgeous men and women in staged, or could they be natural, poses with wide eyes and startled expressions. Sadness, joy and whimsical faces stare back at us as we ask: who, where and what? There is a touch of film noir as the camera focuses on specific focal points of hands clawing and eyes glaring.
Unknown to the viewer, the subjects could be the friends and children of Caravan. They sometimes wear costumes, there are mixes of colour, and abstract props support her portraits and transport you to an underground world of the photographer’s studio.
Nan Goldwin’s photographic journeys led her to document a number of individuals with whom she spent a great deal of time. Is Caran working in a similar way, hanging out with individuals who eventually trust her enough to have her camera’s eye fix on them to create a dream-like image capturing youth in its many guises?
The images are undoubtedly beautiful and she is certainly working in what is now a unique way. Whilst contemporary photographers are able to tweak this and that in Photoshop, Caran seems to be utilizing techniques such as diffusion, sepia toning, multiple-images, Sabattier effect, photograms and texturing in the dark room. She did not confirm whether some of these or all of these approaches were applied but whatever technique she is applying, they really work.
Go See Her Show.
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