Art
Jordano's Articles of Faith: Space and Intimacy
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The exhibition of Dave Jordano’s collection of photographs called Articles of Faith, at the Chicago Cultural Center, is nearing its end. Dave Jordano is Chicago’s own, and his work adorns many private, corporate, and museum collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
Articles of Faith challenges the notion that faith is something that inhabits only grand basilicas with their impressive architecture and elaborate ornamentation. In this photo-documentary of storefront churches in South-side Chicago, Mr. Jordano captures the energy and intimacy that bind members of these churches to the spaces and objects that define their experiences and expressions of faith.
What was the source of inspiration for Articles of Faith?
I would often see this small non-descript industrial building while driving over the Skyway Bridge towards Marktown, a neighborhood in East Chicago, Indiana where I was doing some documentary work. The sign on the outside said “Cathedral of Divine Love.” It just captivated me…I thought….“There’s really something charming about how this pastor had given this building the status of a cathedral.” These little churches dot the whole south and west side landscapes of poorer African-American neighborhoods of Chicago…If it was this interesting on the outside, I can imagine what it would look like on the inside. They’ve got to be beautiful. It was just a leap of faith.
In making the leap of faith to enter these churches and photograph them, what did you find?
The small interior space. The privacy of it. How beautifully I thought they were decorated and adorned with personal objects. The simple structures with minimal items. Many are furnished in ad hoc fashion. The chairs don’t match. The pews don’t match. The carpet is a used carpet that they acquired from maybe a building that was being torn down. This sense that a church can be established with bits and pieces of others discarded or used items inspired me. All of these things I felt were…little parts of the equation that made up the uniqueness of each church.
How many churches did you visit?
I photographed 60 churches over a three and a half to four year period but I probably visited almost twice as many.
What do you want people to take away from the Article of Faith exhibition?
I hope they take a greater appreciation for these churches after looking at my photographs. I think that a lot of people underestimate what these churches represent and mean to the people who live in the neighborhoods where they exist.
What is your favorite Article of Faith photograph?
Ihave many, but one picture in particular is of Pastor Mallet’s back room. It has dozens and dozens of hand-written poster signs covering the walls of the room. Some of them went back nearly forty years. He saved them all and created a little shrine that represented his own beliefs. He was just an amazing person. I loved his eccentricity and his determination. He passed away last year at the age of 92.
How did you move from commercial to fine arts photography?
I was a Fine Art major in school back in the 1970’s and my whole history is based in fine art photography. But when I graduated I needed to get a job. I worked for a museum for a couple of years. That didn’t go very well… I moved to Chicago in 1977 to establish myself as a commercial photographer. I had a wonder career for 31 years. Basically, my wife and I raised a family, built the business, and built a reputation as a successful commercial photographer. About 25 years into the business I realized that I had lost the reason why I had become a photographer in the first place…a sense that I wasn’t producing anything with substance. Perhaps it was my midlife crisis, I don’t know. But I wanted to contribute to photography in a way that was meaningful.
How would you describe your photographic vision?
What kind of look/atmosphere/feel do you try and create in your photos.
I’m really very much an old-school documentary photographer. That’s how I would describe myself. My approach is rather deadpan, in other words very deliberate and pre-determined. I strive for a certain degree of objectivity and then let the viewer make up his or her own mind. As far as my vision…it works best when I’m able to inform, educate, and reveal things about culture that other people otherwise would not have an opportunity to witness.
Who are your influences?
Alec Soth is a contemporary. I admire his work greatly. He’s an emotional and poetic photographer with a beautiful narrative/documentary style. I like Edward Burtynsky’s work as well. His work is very matter-of-fact, but it sucks you in with its richness and beauty.
Can you share a little bit about your technique?
I have embraced the digital world completely. Everything I photograph now is digitally captured with a high-resolution Hasselblad camera. I use a tri-pod and lock the camera down so that nothing moves or is out of registration. I then make several exposures of a particular scene and then later in Photoshop I layer all the different exposures together to make one complete final photograph, which has all the details in the shadows, and all the details in the highlights, which makes a perfect print.
I notice you don’t have a flikr account.
[Laughs] I’m not on facebook. I’m not on flickr. I’m not on twitter.
Why!
I honestly don’t have the time for it right now, or the time to constantly keep up with it. I prioritize my time doing other things…. I may change eventually. Perhaps it’s my age. I’m 61 years old. I still wear a wristwatch. [Laughs]
What advice would you give to an aspiring photographer at the start of their career?
You must have passion. I tell you, it’s all about passion. You can have tons of talent, but if you’re lazy, it’s not going to help you. You really have to have the drive, passion and hard work ethic to succeed. It’s a combination of all these things, not just talent. It doesn’t mean that you’ll always be successful, but it would mean that you’ll always be creating and I think that’s more important…. to just continue to create.
What’s your take on the effect of the Internet on the practice, promotion and distribution?
Fabulous…I believe deeply in the dissemination of information through the Internet. I receive emails from people all over the world who have see my work, and I likewise have found photographers whose work I admire. This wasn’t possible 7 years ago.
What of the effect of the Internet on piracy?
I don’t think anyone is going to plagiarize your work and call it their own by taking a screen grab image off a monitor, at least I hope not. You can’t control image piracy on the internet anyway, even with copy write notices. If one of my images showed up in a Nike ad, then that would be different, but the odds of that happening are like winning the lottery. Bloggers have picked up images off of my website and posted them on their sites though.
And you’re fine with that?
Actually I’m flattered because they’re spreading the word about my work.
Is there a memorable photographic moment you’ll like to share?
Well, it wasn’t so much a particular image that was my favorite moment. It’s meeting the German woman, Frau Nastvogel, who ran the local photo lab on the army base where I was stationed in Germany some 40 years ago. She was my first real connection to what photography was all about ...That first year she taught me the true meaning and potential of photography as an art form. I dedicated my recent book, “Articles of Faith” to her. I was only 19 years old when I met her…but her guidance and mentoring shaped my path for the rest of my life. I still can’t thank her enough.
The exhibition of Dave Jordano’s collection of photographs called Articles of Faith, at the Chicago Cultural Center, is soon to draw to a close.
Dave Jordano is Chicago’s own, and his work adorns many local private, corporate, and museum collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
Articles of Faith challenges the notion that faith is something that inhabits only grand basilicas with their impressive architecture and elaborate ornamentation. In this photo-documentary of store-front churches in South-side Chicago, Mr. Jordano captures the energy and intimacy that bind members of these churches to the spaces and objects that define their experiences and expressions of faith.
What was the source of inspiration for Articles of Faith?
I would always see this little church driving over to Mark Town with a sign on the outside that said Cathedral of Divine Love. It just captivated me and I thought, “There’s really something charming about these tiny little churches.” They dot the whole south and west side landscapes of the poor neighborhoods of Chicago. If it’s interesting on the outside, I can imagine what it would look like on the inside. They’ve got to be beautiful. It was just a leap of faith.
In making the leap of faith to enter these churches and photograph them, what did you find?
The interior space. The privacy of it. How beautifully I thought they were decorated. The simple structures with minimal items. Everything is kind of ad hoc. The chairs don’t match. The draperies don’t match. The carpet is a used carpet that they got from maybe a building that was being torn down. All of these things I felt were…little parts of the equation that made up these churches.
How many churches did you visit?
I photographed 60 churches over a three and a half to four year period but, I probably visited maybe twice as many.
What do you want people to take away from the Article of Faith exhibition?
I hope they take a greater appreciation for these churches after looking at my photographs. I think that a lot of people don’t understand what these churches represent to communities and people.
What is your favorite Article of Faith piece?
It’s one of Pastor Mallot’s room. It has all the signs on the wall…He was just an amazing character. I just loved his eccentricity and his determination.
How did you move from commercial to fine arts photography?
I was a Fine Arts major in school back in the 70s and my whole history is based in fine art. But when I graduated, I had to get a job. So I worked for a museum for a couple of years. That didn’t go very well… I moved to Chicago in 1977…to try and be a commercial photographer. I had a wonder career for 31 years. Basically had the family, built the business, built my reputation. About 25yrs in the business and I realized that I had lost my way in a sense that I wasn’t producing anything meaningful. And I guess maybe it was like my midlife crisis or something. But I wanted to contribute to photography in a way that’s meaningful.
How would you describe your photographic vision? What kind of look/atmosphere/feel do you try and create in your photos?
I’m kind of a documentary photographer. That’s how I would describe myself. I am dead pan. I want to be objective. As far as my vision? I like to inform, educate, and reveal things about culture that other people otherwise would not have an opportunity to see.
Who are your influences?
Alec Soth is a contemporary. Love Alec’s work. He’s more emotional more poetic. Edward Burtynsky is just more like here is China. Here is the industrial revolution of China…It’s beautiful work.
Can you share a little bit about your technique?
I have embraced the digital world. Everything I photograph is digitally captured with high res cameras. I lock down a camera on a tripod so nothing moves. And then I can do several exposures of a particular scene and then later on in Photoshop I can layer all those different exposures together to make one complete final photograph which has all the details in the shadows and all the details in the highlights, so I make a perfect print.
I notice you don’t have a flikr account.
[Laughs] I’m not on Facebook. I’m not on flickr. I’m not on Twitter.
Why!
I don’t have the time for it. I’m not connecting that way. Maybe it’s my age. I’m 60 years old. I’m not from that generation. I still wear a wrist watch. [Laughs]
What advice would you give to an aspiring photographer at the start of their career?
Keep your passion. I tell ya, it’s all about passion. You can have talent, but if you’re lazy, it’s not gonna help you. You really have to have drive, passion and hard work. It’s a combination of all these things. And not just talent…I think it’s determination…It doesn’t mean that you’ll always be successful but it would mean that you’ll always be creating and I think that’s more important, to just continue to create.
What’s your take on the effect of the internet on the practice, promotion and distribution?
Fabulous. I believe deeply in the dissemination of information through the internet.
What of the effect of the internet on piracy?
It’s all low resolution anyway. How can you take a 72 dpi image off of a monitor and use it for any commercial purposes. But people pick up images off of my website and put them on their blog.
And you’re fine with that?
Actually I’m flattered.
Is there a memorable photographic moment you’ll like to share?
So it wasn’t so much a particular image that was my favorite moment. It’s meeting. The woman that ran the local darkroom in the army base I was on in Germany. She was my first real connection to what photography was. She taught me that first year that I discovered photography the meaning of taking good photographs. I dedicated a book to her. She made me see things that I did not see before. Because when I discovered photography I was only 19 years old. She kind of guided me. She really did.
