CULTURE
UNTITLED (SELF, EXTENDED), 2020, (FROM BLACK ALCHEMY VOL. 3)
CARBON, MARS, OBSIDIAN: In Aaron Turner’s photography, black is far from being a single hue.
‘BLACK ALCHEMY’ A Q&A WITH PHOTOGRAPHER AARON TURNER. BY STEPHANIE SMITTLE
P
hotographer Aaron Turner’s “Black Alchemy” series is an enchanting hybrid of identity and darkroom chemistry, one that leaves the viewer wondering, “How did he do that?” Using archival portraits, mirrors, shadows, paper cuttings and projections, the West Memphis native creates elaborate studio installations and photographs them in black and white, each piece a statement in a grander thesis that grapples with social history, art history and life in the Arkansas/Mississippi Delta. Turner’s work, in 2021, won him the Houston Center for Photography Fellowship and made him a recipient of the inaugural Creators Lab Photo Fund from Google’s Creator Labs and the Aperture Foundation. We spoke with Turner via Zoom from his studio on the square in downtown Fayetteville. ARKANSASTIMES.COM
JANUARY 2022 63
