Primal Images
by Jerry Burchfield
Fall 2004, 11.5″ x 9.5″, 144 pages, 100 photographs
ISBN: 1930066228
This unique, 144-page oversized book features Lumen photograms that celebrate the beauty of Amazon flora. 100 color plates will feature these historically unique one-of-a-kind images that are made on-site by Burchfield in the Amazon rainforests. In addition, color photographs of the Amazon environment will be interspersed among text essays by Wade Davis, Jonathan Green, and Burchfield. The book’s premire showing was at UCR/California Museum of Photography in the fall of 2003.
Burchfield began creating his lumens in 1998 during his first visit to the Amazon. Since then he has returned there many times to document the Amazon’s diverse flora. Utilizing methods that date back to the origins of photography, Burchfield creates his lumens (or printed-out photograms) by placing a plant specimen directly onto photographic paper that he secures outdoors to the deck of his boat. Relying on the serendipitous interaction of sunlight, weather, ambient temperature, and each plant’s inherent moisture, among many other uncontrollable factors, Burchfield produces an astonishing array of images from the starkly representational, to pure abstractions of color, shape, and form all of which capture the “physical essence” of each plant, as Burchfield writes in his concluding essay about his work.
ENDORSEMENTS
“Rather than scientific description or environmental polemic, Burchfield’s lumen photograms confront us with the visual representation of the Amazon’s most elemental truth: natural process.”
From the Introduction by Jonathan Green, Director of the UCR’s California Museum of Photography
“The subtle elegance of [Burchfield’s] photographic technique reflects an eye that seeks to see beneath the surface of things to the very inner worlds that shaman desire to know.”
From the Foreword by Wade Davis, ethnobotanist and author of One River
In addition to the one-time limited hardcover print run, the publisher will be issuing a Special Edition of Primal Images. This Special Edition is limited to 150 copies signed and numbered by the artist. Each copy is presented in an elegant gold leaf embossed black clamshell box and includes a signed print of the cover image.
Artweek – December 2003/January 2004 –
Artweek – December 2003/January 2004
“… a body of work that transcends such utilitarian concerns to explore a mysterious creative arena where chance and skill collaborate.”
Artweek – December 2003/January 2004
Primal Images – Artweek Review .pdf
Coast Magazine –
Coast Magazine
“… a distinctive gathering of work that is both artistically interpretive and scientifically documentary…”
Coast Magazine – November 2003
Prima Images – Coast Magazine Review .pdf
The Orange County Register – June 10, 2004 –
The Orange County Register – June 10, 2004
“…draws a unique parallel between natural phenomenon of photosynthesis to the original photographic process itself.”
The Orange County Register – June 10, 2004
Primal Images – Orange County Register Review.pdf
Rangefinder Magazine, June 2005 –
Rangefinder Magazine, June 2005
“Burchfield chose this unusual way to document the Amazon flora because he likes the physical interaction with nature and, more importantly, because the prints would be fossil-like and thus hit t the potential loss of these native plants.”
Rangefinder Magazine, June 2005
Primal Images – Rangefinder Review .pdf
Riviera – June 2004 –
Riviera – June 2004
“… the chance element inherent in the work somehow dovetails with his bond with the Amazon environment.”
Riviera – June 2004
Primal Images – Riviera Review.pdf
Apogee Photo Magazine – September 2006 –
Apogee Photo Magazine – September 2006
“The results are unlike any other you will find in any book. This book will be of interest to conservationists and art photographers alike.”
Apogee Photo Magazine – September 2006
Primal Images – Apogee Photo Magazine Review.pdf