Photographer Joshua Everson takes a restless interest in Tacoma and Tacomans: His eye ceaselessly roves the shifting topography of people and places he sees through the lens of his camera, awaiting the exact instant in which to take a picture. He describes this style of shooting as “dynamic portraiture,” a technique that “frees the one moment of time” from an open-ended sequence, capturing the frame destined to become a riveting image.
For his Spaceworks Tacoma residency, Everson is taking dynamic portraits of Tacomans on location around the South Sound. Then, over the course of the three-month term, he will release these images into the window of his downtown studio at 1114 Pacific Ave. From the individual portraits a collage will form, until an even larger, over-arching idea begins to emerge from the whole. He envisions the transforming installation as being interactive with passersby: “There’s something a little funky about it, something you’re not quite getting.” His ultimate goal: “A collage of portraits that speaks to Tacoma” and reflects the unique personality of the city and of local culture.
Everson shoots with digital cameras as well as vintage models including a German-made Ansco Speedex Special “R”, and a Mamiya C3. He has taught photography for six years at Curtis Junior High, and will offer photography workshops to the public at his portrait studio through mid-Sept. Though digital lens work has its allure, he describes film photography as a skill that “incorporates the understanding and manipulation of physics, chemistry, language, aesthetics, and math.” He is also a fine painter, and currently involved in a city-wide mural project supported by the Chamber of Commerce aimed at stopping graffiti vandalism by commissioning artists to paint the walls of designated buildings. Joshua Everson Photography, 1114 Pacific Ave., through mid-Sept., 2010; www.josheverson.com