Newspaper Page Text
OtMtmb** 30, 1994
LIGHT AFTER DARK:
A PORTRAIT OF SOUTHERN RUINS
BY KAREKIN GOEKJIAN • Lucinne Inc. • Hardback, 112 pages, $40
The collection of photographs
by Karekin Goekjian in Light After
Dark A Portrait of Southern Ruins
depicts remnants of a South long
gone. Old plantations, forts and
mills are the primary subjects of
Goekjian's works. Through his per
sonal style, Goekjian has shown us
how time has weathered what was
once considered the brilliance of
wealth to a generation. Now many
of these structures, some hidden
deeply in undergrowth, are in de
cay and almost forgotten
Ruins present a reality never
intended by the original inhabitants. The Parthenon
in Greece served as a temple to its first generation It
was an arms supply dump to another, and a tourist at
traction to yet another For Goekjian these ruins
present an opportunity to explore how time changes
all meanings and references
In order to depict these ruins, Goekjian has cho
sen to shoot the photographs in Light After Dark at night
with portable lights accenting the structures. He shines
his lights onto the face of the ruins and photographs
them over and over. Goekjian will light up one col
umn or wall as much as he lights up another The re
sult is lighting that in no way competes with the sun or
with one dominating light source. Goekjian has em
phasized abstraction with his photographs without re
sorting to manipulating the print What is in front of
the camera is what you see.
For instance, “Magnolia” is a photograph of a tree
in a field seen between the break in a dilapidated stone
wall. The distant tree is illuminated with as much de
tail as the plume of the wild grass in the middle ground
and the stones and mortar of the divided wall in the
foreground. The detail that Goekjian brings out results
in a photograph unsure of its depth This is intentional.
Goekjian plays with detail and depth, creating a para
dox as the eye attempts to unify the photograph.
Goekjian has created photographs that require re
view and time to comprehend. My personal favorite,
“Old Great Falls Mill" (in Richmond County, S. C.),
is a ghostly presence of an old industrial building con
structed after the Civil War. In some ways, it resembles
the Coliseum in Rome. “Old Great Falls Mill” is like
an apparition where you are not certain if you are see
ing the building that is in front of you. Goekjian plays
tricks on your eyes; the closer you look, the more diffi
cult it is to see.
What ts intriguing about Light After Dark is that the
concept of time is manifested in at least three ways
First of all, the subject is about how time plays its theme
not only on old buildings, but on the myths and sym
bols of that generation. Secondly, all of Goekjian's pho
tographs are timed-exposed from 15 minutes to an hour
and a half. And finally, time becomes an element in
the viewer’s examination of the work. Because of com
peting details and the lack of central lighting the eye
has to spend time processing the work into a unified
visual form.
An added advantage to Goekjian's work is his Ar
menian heritage His outsider's eye allows a view not
clouded by any past or family history related to these
forms. Goekjian is able to show those of us who have
such relations structures stripped bare of the mythol
ogy that once clothed them However, if anyone should
doubt Goekjian’s place in presenting these views, a
stamp of approval comes in the form of a foreword
authored by Mississippi novelist Eudora Welty (an ac
complished photographer in her own right). Welty ends
her foreword by saying that Goekjian's “work effectively
carries out one of the prime functions of the camera...
to amaze us with what has been there all the time, wait
ing to be seen ” Indeed, his outsider’s eye has reached
into our past and shown us splendor subjected to the
passage of time.
John Hawkins
A reception and signing u*ii be held at the Old Black
Dog Bookstore Thursday. Dec I, from 5-7 p m.
• FarroJ Soms signs copies of his new book. Epiphany (loogstreet Press!, o collection of three stories. 2-4 p m.
Saturday. Dec 4. at Book Peddlers in Beechwood Shopping Center Sams, author of Run With The Horseman.
lives in Fayettevie. Ga. where he practices medkine Cat 546-7427 for mfo
• W *om Goddfc won the National Book Award for fiction for ha novel 4 Frokc of His Own (Poseidon Press) at
a ceremony held in late November in New York City Sherwin B. Nuiand received the award for nonfiction for
How We Die Reflections on Life's Final Chapter (Knopf), and James Tote won the poetry award for ha new
poetry collection. Worshipful Company of Fletchers (Ecco Press)
• Acclaimed dark fantasy author (and former Athens resident) Poppy Z. Brito has edrted a collection of
onginal vampire erotica tales titled Love in Vein (Harper Coins Paperbacks) Brie's second novel. Drawing
Blood, has just been released in paperback by Del Publishing
• Join the Old Black Dog Bookstore for a reception and autographing honoring Korekin Goekjian on the
publication of his new book of photographs. U&t After Dark: A Portrait of Southern Ruins. 5-7 p m. Thursday.
Dec 1 For info: 549-2449.
• Scott Morrison, the founding teacher of the American Zen Society and the cxihor of Open and Innocent:
The Gentle Passionate Art of Not-knowmg lAmencan Zen Society Press), conducts a mediation intensive 10
am.-5 p m Saturday. Dec 3. at Friendship Christian Church. 265 foNassee Rd Suggested donation is S35 (No
one wi be turned away, however, for lack of funds J For information: 546-3474
Judy long
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'll
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$5 • $25 • $50 • $100 00
•BOOKS ON TAPES
GIVE AWAYS with every
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(Limited pty. available)
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BOOK SIGNING
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Sunday Dec. 4 • 2'4pm
A S
t I I* ITS I l
tie
Signing his new book
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