© Just Loomis, Skaters, Los Angeles, 1998
Galerie Hiltawsky Tucholskystr. 41, 10117 Berlin Allemagne
Gallery Hiltawsky is pleased to announce As We Are - an exhibition by the American photographer Just Loomis (*1957, Nevada) – as of April 9, 2011.
The exhibition includes 30 color and b/w photographs that illustrate the empathetic, vivid and intimate world of this contemporary photographer. Although rooted in the tradition of social landscape photography, the naturalist genre from the mid-1950s, Loomis ventures deeper into the nature of his personal relationships and memories with this set of photographs. The work echoes a narrative, and documentary aesthetic, but gains its contemporary relevance through the examination of such concepts as alienation and social role placement-displacement.
“Loomis dispenses with formal experiments relying instead on a charity and affectionate perspective towards humanity. The pictures depict deeply felt encounters with others who often return a sense of openness and curiosity without factitiousness. On display are children alongside waitresses, models and strippers, forlorn strangers and couples, old and young. Time and again his own family is exposed – all caught up in the moment, on the street, in the neighborhood, in a passing car or a dimly lit suburban motel room.
In these portraits and landscapes, bleak and uniquely American, Just Loomis captures memories and cravings; evoking childhood’s intensity and spontaneity. Just Loomis brings home an America familiar and foreign at the same time: in all her vitality, the sensation of breadth, the variety of people from all backgrounds and the existence of iconic features.” (Quote: Dr. Matthias Harder)
As a former assistant to Helmut Newton, Just Loomis learned the importance of presenting his own, personal heroes: children, waitresses, family – people he loved and others he happens to encounter. Loomis focuses on glances, revealing the peculiar and subtle beauty of the imperfect. From these encounters emerge exceptional portraits resulting in a meeting of souls…between photographer and subject.
Also, included in the exhibition is a unique set of photographs of the Norwegian Pop band a-ha, done between 1985 and 1991. The Grammy nominated cover for Hunting High and Low is presented alongside other a-ha covers: Stay on These Roads, East of the Sun and Memorial Beach. Loomis first met the band in 1985, on the set of the groundbreaking video, Take on Me. They became fast friends and worked together up until 1991 when Loomis went along on the Brazilian tour. The exhibition includes a photo diary of the 1991 Brazilian pictures, many which have never been seen nor published before this March 2011.