Jennifer Loeber

6.12.2009

My series Cruel Story of Youth is profiled on the always awesome Feature Shoot today!

6.04.2009

Sometimes a project picks you.

A few months ago I started swimming at our local Y. Most of my childhood was based around water activity of some sort and my parents enjoy telling stories about my 9 hour swimming marathons.

Despite the over-chlorination and some truly weirdo members (is it really necessary to stretch in front of the pool for 1/2 an hour while wearing a speedo one size too small to uh, contain , the family jewels?) these past few months have been nothing short of life changing. Its as if I have found the Me I had forgotten about during these forced landlubbing years.

My hair on the other hand looks like total shit- but I digress.

Several days ago my husband popped in a DVD he needed to watch for work and tells me that we first have to watch a 12 minute short film made by the subject of the feature we are about to watch- "Quarry" 1970, Dick Rogers. I sort of internally groan because short films seem to have a higher than average chance of sucking the will to live right out of your body. (Considering I am a person who has made a film that just barely squeaks by as feature length itself I feel bad about this but my eye rolling occurs almost involuntarily.)

Two minutes in and I am deeply and thoroughly in love. On the surface its a simple black and white film about the teenagers who hang out and swim at the Quincy quarry in Massachusetts, but its also a love letter of sorts to water.

I've been scribbling ideas in notebooks and checking train timetables for days in preparation for a project that has been staring me right in the face for months now.

I just needed to notice it.

5.20.2009

NYPH '09

The New York Photo Festival this past weekend was sadly underwhelming. Regardless, I was introduced to two new (to me) photographers work I absolutely loved- why they were both shoved into poorly lit, hard to find corners is beyond me...

Tiina Itkonen- (make sure to click to enlarge)

Sirio Magnabosc-

5.13.2009

Ladies First

Back when I first started dating my now husband, a film critic, I told him that I greatly preferred to read books and watch films written by and about women. Maybe it has something to do with being raised on Judy Blume and Bikini Kill but I have almost always just felt more drawn to the stories, secrets and rituals of women.

During college I buried myself in books about Lee Miller and Tina Modotti while feigning interest in Ansel Adams for the sake of my photography degree. At the time it seemed completely absurd to me to focus on old men working out the math to achieve the perfect color gray when Tina was running through Mexico photographing communist rallies and Lee was taking self portraits in Hitler's bathtub. I spent my breaks between classes pouring over Immediate Family and The Ballad of Sexual Dependency and learning that women, and the results of their gaze, completely fascinated me.

Being married to a film critic means I have access to things (never-before-seen films screened in our living room, dry chicken sliders at industry parties) that your average citizen does not. Being a photographer who gets to live with the equivalent of a video store on her bookshelves is something that is endlessly inspiring.

I started to get into the habit of mentally bookmarking different films directed by or about women that inspired me in some way. I keep of folder of these images on my computer for reference on light, composition, color palette etc to look at when I'm planning out a new series, working on a project or just having a case of the mean reds. It's a digital version of an inspiration board and something that has expanded my visual knowledge in ways I never could have imagined.

Some of my favorite captures from some of my favorite films:

Innocence, Lucile Hadzihalilovic