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Frank
McAdam
Artist
Statement: I am, for the most part, self taught as a photographer. I
graduated from Fordham University in New York City on full academic
scholarships; while a student there, I majored in English literature and
minored in Asian philosophy and art history. After graduation, I taught
myself basic photography from the Time-Life series of books. I also took a
course in studio lighting taught by Bud Canarella at the School of Visual
Arts as well as a course in Making the Fine Print taught by George Tice at
Parsons School of Design.
After several years of working in "straight" black & white
photography, I became interested in digital imaging and started
experimenting with Photoshop. The computer truly opened my imagination to
the possibilities of creative photography. At the same time, however, I
realized that I could be just as creative with traditional photographic
processes as I could with computer generated imagery. I went back to the
darkroom and began printing again in black & white. This time, though,
I printed from infrared negatives and also began to manipulate the prints
to some extent through toning and the use of texture screens. I also began
working with alternative processes, such as platinum printing and
cyanotypes.
I had been fascinated since college with the idea of yin and yang, the two
elemental forces which the Chinese believe combine to form the entire
universe. I now realized that photography could actually be seen in the
same terms -- as images created from the interaction of the opposing
forces of light and shadow. I began shooting the female nude as a pristine
form emerging briefly into the light before disappearing again into the
shadows, and I have continued with that same theme. There have been many
great photographers whose work I have admired and to whom I owe a debt for
enlarging my own vision. I feel that the greatest influence upon me,
however, has been that of the surrealist photographers, particularly the
German-born Hans Bellmer. His photographs of dolls, made while he was in
hiding during the Nazi era, are quite different from my own work and yet
have had a profound effect upon the way I view the female form. I was
greatly influenced by a major exhibit of Bellmer's work several years ago
at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York City. Not
only were his photographs and artwork shown, but even the actual dolls he
had used as models. It also traced the evolution of his work as it tested
the boundaries of eroticism.
Although I can trace my family's roots in New York City back to April 1848
when my great great grandfather, the first Frank McAdam, arrived in
Manhattan and opened a shoemaker shop in Greenwich Village, I have full
Irish citizenship and a valid EU passport. I intend to relocate to Europe,
perhaps to Amsterdam, in the near future and there hope to more fully
explore the limits of my art, even if such exploration ultimately takes
me, as it did Bellmer, beyond the pale of acceptable convention.
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CONTACT
INFORMATION
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Location: New York City,
New York |
Email: SurrealNYC@aol.com |
Website: www.frank-mcadam.com
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PRINT
SALES & INFORMATION |
8x10" prints on
Luminos gelatin silver enlarging paper (generally Charcoal or
Classic Warm Tone Pearl), sepia toned for increased archival
permanence. I do not like to quote an exact price for prints, due to
the fact that I also auction them on ebay, but the silver gelatin
prints are generally in the $75 to $100 range, while palladium
prints generally are in the $200 to $250 range.
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EXHIBITION
LIST |
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