Kerry Kilburn Weekly Artist Post 4/4/2016

Lynn Savarese
"My Still Life Aviary" article in Resource Magazine
New York's New Abolitionists

Lynn Savarese

From "My Still Life Aviary"

From "My Still Life Aviary"

From "Water Paints"

From "Water Paints"

Mayor David Dinkins, New York's New Abolitionists

"Kenya", New York's New Abolitionists

Lynn Savarese is a relatively "young" photographer, having fallen in love with the art after having graduated from Harvard Law School, worked in corporate law and investment banking, and taken a long break to raise her family and pursue volunteer opportunities with a variety of human rights groups. Having found her passion, she has pursued it relentlessly, and has had her series "My Still Life Aviary," "Water Paint," and "New York's New Abolitionists" featured in both group and individual shows since 2013. She also works periodically with not-for-profit agencies through special photography projects. According to one article, she is happy to shoot with her Canon EOS 5D Mark III with a 70-200mm f/2.8 ISII USM lens.

Ms. Savarese's work focuses on what she calls "intimate observation," which is readily apparent when you look through her portfolios. "My Still Life Aviary" began when she was working with The American Museum of Natural History,  photographing bird specimens for their collection digitization project. She became fascinated with the specimens and with taxidermy; in an interview with Resource Magazine, she explained that she was particularly drawn to "their power to convey the endangerment and threat of extinction many bird species face today." She was also interested in the ethical challenges the specimens represent, and notes that "it was important to me also to convey man's hubris in turning animals into replicas of themselves, and the inherent irony in striving to achieve a kind of immortality for them by killing them in their prime." (As an aside, and someone who understands the value of natural history collections, I was surprised that she didn't mention the scientific value of the specimens she was working with.)

"Water Paints" is precisely what it sounds like - her effort to capture the colors and textures of water in various places and at various times. New York's New Abolitionists is a campaign organized by the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition that seeks to raise awareness around human trafficking and modern-day slavery by recognizing and honoring those involved in the effort to combat them.  Ms. Savarese is a co-founder, financial sponsor, and photographer for the organization. You can read more about the organization and its participants at the website listed at the top of the page.

I am attracted to Ms. Savarese's work because of her focus on "intimate observation," which leads, in much of her still life work, at least, to a kind of abstraction that I find particularly interesting; it's something I try to do in my own work. Looking through her various portfolios of "personal projects," she seems to have a unique way of seeing that translates into unusual images even of such standard photographic subjects as flowers, waters, sunsets, etc. I would like to see her cull her collections - I think fewer, better chosen images would have a stronger impact than the long series she has on her website now, but I very much enjoyed looking through them.