Quinn Jacobson was born in the American West and spent most of his life there. For him, the region remains an enchanting, beautiful and dangerous place. Even if modern-day reality doesn’t resemble the badlands of legend, one can still sense the spirit of exploration: the idea of a lawless, virgin land. A magnetic force continues to emanate from the region, a force that pushes men and women to seek this “Dream of the American West.”
The photographs are produced using the collodion process on plates of glass (ambrotype) or metal (tintype and ferrotype), invented in 1851 and popular until the 1880s. (You can learn more about Jacobson’s process here.) Jacobson demystifies and plays with this aesthetic of the American West that survives today in the collective unconscious.
Quinn Jacobson
The American West Portraits
Until June 6, 2012
Centre Iris pour la photographie
238 rue Saint-Martin
75003 Paris
France
+ 33 (0)1 48 87 06 09
