Burris likes black—not just the black that contrasts with white backgrounds, human skins and other trappings. He likes black hair, black stripes, black fabric, black hats and boots, and perhaps even a black way of seeing things… It would be less noticeable if his photographs were in color, but that would take away from their nostalgic charm. A nostalgia for the style and the era—the 1990s—that the beauties passing before his lens try to communicate. With Burris, we are reminded that fashion photography is never better than when the girl looks sexy, playful, and—however she poses or dances—natural.
If superficiality is almost absent from these photographs, it is enhanced not by the simplicity of the models’ poses, but by their attitudes. Therein lies the photographer’s talent: he knows how to provoke originality without forgetting that the human being is only a beautiful creature while it is full of authentic feelings. A virtue that cannot be taught in photography schools but comes with the refinement of the photographer’s eye. If Life Sciences textbooks had a chapter on photography, it would have to include Burris’ photograph Sunday Morning. A young woman in a straw hat and autumn clothes reminds us through her somewhat blurred expression how to look on the people and things in the world around us. Certainly, Todd Burris’ candid photographs exist at the crossroads of fashion and photojournalism.
It is well known that black-and-white photography is all about contrasts. Burris makes no exception to the rule, and he exercises complete control over the effects, although that accuracy is not always present in the focus. But that’s not an issue—no offense to the digital technology maniacs. In photography, imperfection has always been synonymous with character, just as magic has always been synonymous with the unexpected. A magic that is evident in the way that Todd Burris handles the art of form, patterns and shadows. Sometimes it’s good to enjoy a dose of elegance.
EXHIBITION
Todd Burris
Until June17 th, 2012
Robin Rice Gallery
325 W 11th Street
New York, NY 10014
