FIAT LUX Canvas

CANVAS

VOLUME 3, 2018

John Wagner

SALT&SILVER

The Diarist

By Kelly Vaughn

At first, the sheer mechanics of a camera drove John

photographers and with a variety of subjects.

Wagner to pick one up.

There was a man who shot fashion portraits for Interview

The sense of the object. The way it worked.

in his hand and in front of his eye.

In one portrait of Maisie when she is very young,

And, as with so many photographers, Wagner is well

magazine, someone who shot products for catalogs, a

she wears clogs and holds a stuffed dog. On first glance,

He was 15.

versed in everything and nothing — his storytelling is

lifestyle photographer. Those experiences were, in a sense,

she seems unaware of the camera, of her father. But then

“A cousin came to visit us in Freeport, Illinois,” Wagner

quick, easy. It is sometimes dry, always thoughtful.

an education in themselves.

you realize that she is looking — just barely — out of

remembers. “He was shooting surf photography, and

The quality translates to his work on film.

“I learned what I didn’t want to do,” Wagner says. “But

the corner of her eye. It’s a simple portrait. Brown hair.

when I held his camera, I liked the way it felt, liked the

“I like the thinking process of it,” he says. “When

that type of work in those early years taught me lessons in

Brown shirt against a brown background. But there is

way I could wind the film through it. I saw it as a tool

you’re shooting film, you have only 12 exposures. You

getting work done.”

palpable intimacy in it, affection.

more than anything.”

can’t just rapid fire and sort it out later. You have to think

Since, that work has taken countless forms. Land speed

In another photograph, Girard is in near profile,

Not long after the visit, though, a camera of his own —

about the exposures, think about the light and dark.

racers and their crews at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The

and sunlight and the brim of her straw hat casts a fern

he bought it in a drugstore with money he saved from his

And, in the processing of it, you don’t have the benefit of

movement of a motorcycle around a bend in a road, that

shadow across the back of her neck. There’s a blurred

paper route.

Photoshop. There are all sorts of things you can do in the

blur of speed and sound. Portraits of people he doesn’t

sense of movement in the background, but Wagner’s

He took high school classes in graphic arts and

darkroom — going through those steps physically — is

know. Portraits of the people he loves most.

subject is nearly full frame, cropped square.

newspaper layout.

more interesting to me than going through them with a

“The one thing I really like about the process of

The photograph is organic, lovely — a mix of art and

College classes in photography.

mouse and mouse pad.”

photography now is that I could look at photographs I

mechanics and patience.

But still, the camera was just an instrument.

Wagner processes his work at The Darkroom, a creative

made early on or today, and they could go right next to

Likely — hopefully — it has already become

“I was shooting photographs of friends — it was

space in central Phoenix where he hangs his images and

each other to tell a story,” Wagner says. “They’re like a

a diary entry.

just part of the action — I don’t even have those prints

the work of other photographers. On a Friday afternoon a

diary. I can look back at a photograph and remember its

And still so many pages to fill.

anymore,” he says.

few weeks before his show opens at Fiat Lux, the space is

story, what happened behind it.”

“Every year, I have similar goals with the work,”

full of hand-matted, hand-framed photographs. There is

Wagner says. “I don’t want to shoot things that look like a

no theme to the images, no rhyme — these are the framed

calendar or a poster. I want to push it a bit further. … I just

diary entries from moments in time.

like to shoot and let it go where it goes.”

Then Wagner transferred to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a pair of instructors opened his eyes to

the darkroom, to the process of transforming a scene into

photographs often wear a sense of proximal intimacy.

a frame into a shot into a piece of art. He began studying

He’s challenged, though, when it comes to characterizing

In the portraits, there are beekeepers and barkeeps,

the work of Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, and his

his style.

cyclists and postcard collectors. Wagner has photographed

instructors carried prints with them, the paper artifacts

“Romantic, maybe,” he offers. “I always hope that a

friends and strangers. Models and corporate honchos.

of vision.

photograph turns out the way I see the scene in my head.”

Family. More.

Wagner’s thinking about the art evolved.

But there are, of course, several images that stand out

Always, though, the images are new.

“That’s when I really started looking at photography

in Wagner’s mental catalog of the work he’s done — the

The angles. A capture of color. A burst of light.

differently,” he says. “That’s when I started looking more

portraits of his now 18-year-old daughter, Maisie, over

In the photographs from Bonneville, we see more of the

toward a final product, as well as the process.”

the years, as well as the photographs of his partner,

mechanics that first drew Wagner to a camera — the parts

And by the time he moved from Chicago to Phoenix

Olivia Girard.

and pieces of the machinery. There is, always, a sense of

in 1994, he had worked as an assistant to a handful of

“Maisie’s a huge part of it,” he says. “Olivia. The people I

the objects in front of him, as well as the sense of the object

care about. They’re the points along the way that matter most.”

The stories have range and distance, but the

SALT

Salt Detail

speedweek 2010 photographic C print 30x37

Brat Style, 1939 Indian speedweek 2017

photographic C print 20x30

Clean Machine

speedweek 2009 photographic C print 30x37

Old Crow 1952

speedweek 2009 photographic C print 20x30

Firestone Detail

speedweek 2013 photographic C print 20x30

View from the Rental Car speedweek 2012

photographic C print 20x30

Tire Tracks in the Salt speedweek 2013

photographic C print 20x30

Dusk, Exiting the Salt speedweek 2012

photographic C print 20x30

Belly Tanker Detail speedweek 2012

photographic C print 20x30

Vincent Black lightening, 3 Mile Course speedweek 2013

photographic C print 20x30

1932 Roadster

speedweek 2012 photographic C print 20x30

Pontiac Detail

speedweek 2010 photographic C print 22x30

Sunrise, 3 Mile Course speedweek 2009

photographic C print 20x30

7:00 A.M. in the Pits speedweek 2011

photographic C print 20x30

Salt Detail

speedweek 2013 photographic C print 30x37

Kick Starting the Triumph speedweek 2013

photographic C print 20x30

Waiting

speedweek 2016 photographic C print 20x30

Sunrise in the Pits speedweek 2013

photographic C print 20x30

Shade

speedweek 2013 photographic C print 20x30

First Light

speedweek 2016 photographic C print 20x30

A Final Check Before Go speedweek 2016

photographic C print 20x30

Tracks in the Salt speedweek 2011

photographic C print 22x30

First Run of the Day speedweek 2016

photographic C print 20x30

Buddy, Long Course Stager speedweek 2016

photographic C print 20x30

A Moment to Reflect speedweek 2016

photographic C print 20x30

Guthrie-Levie Racing, 5 Mile Course speedweek 2017

photographic C print 20x30

Flying Norwegians, 5 Mile Course speedweek 2017

photographic C print 20x30

Take Off

speedweek 2017 photographic C print 19x38

240z, 3 Mile Course speedweek 2017

photographic C print 20x30

Shinya Kimura, 3 Mile Course speedweek 2017

photographic C print 20x30

Original Mike

speedweek 2017 photographic C print 20x30

Low Brow Customs Team, 3 mile Course speedweek 2017

photographic C print 20x30

Streamliner

speedweek 2017 photographic C print 20x30

SILVER

Beer, Utah

toned silver gelatin print, 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Bullfrog

toned silver gelatin print, 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Crack on the Surface

toned silver gelatin print, 6x6 printed on 8x10, by artist

Ash Covered Hand, Mount Graham toned silver gelatin print 6x6 printed on 8x10, by artist

Dark Sky

toned silver gelatin print, 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Bird, California

toned silver gelatin print, 6x6 printed on 8x10, by artist

Father and Daughter

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Forest and Ferns, California toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Tall Grass, Salt River

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Desert Diptych

2 toned silver gelatin prints, 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Griffen, Tucson

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Heron

toned silver gelatin print 6x6 printed on 8x10, by artist

Lone Horse, Colorado

toned silver gelatin print 6x6 printed on 8x10, by artist

Jocelyn, Tucson

toned silver gelatin print 14 x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Lone Saguaro

toned silver gelatin print, 5x5 printed on 16x20, by artist

Maisie, Convent Street

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Olivia, Straw Hat

toned silver gelatin print 14 x 14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Joshua Tree, California

toned silver gelatin print 5x5 printed on 8 x 10, by artist

Olivia, Pacific City

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Power Lines, Arizona

toned silver gelatin print 5x5 printed on 8x10, by artist

Olivia, Salt River

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

River Rock, Virgin River

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Ford, Arizona

toned silver gelatin print 5x5 printed on 8x10, by artist

Saguaro, Arizona

toned silver gelatin print 5x5 printed on 8x10, by artist

Scenic View, Arizona

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Shadow on Tall Grass, Arizona toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Nude, Mount Graham toned silver print 6x6

printed on 8x10, by artist

Snake Belly

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Stacked River Rock

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Olivia, Sycamore Creek

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Straw Hat, Mexico

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Shadows on Wooden Box

toned silver gelatin print 6x6 printed on 8x10, by artist

Maisie, Tucson

toned silver gelatin print 5x5 printed on 8 x 10, by artist

Submerged Stone, Sycamore Creek toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Floating, Salt River

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Wire Angel

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

King Vultures

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Water Tank, Mexico

toned silver print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

Whiskers, Tucson

toned silver print 5x5 printed on 8x10, by artist

Virgin River, Utah

toned silver gelatin print 14x14 printed on 16x20, by artist

John Wagner

johnwagnerphoto.com

As a photographer, I’ve always been intrigued with the idea that each photograph I create records a moment in my own life. Sometimes the image relates directly to what is happening in my personal life and other times it’s not as obvious. This information becomes, in a way, a visual diary or journal–each photograph having the ability to remind me of moments shared with friends, family, or brief acquaintances made through my travels, as well as documenting the wonderful places I’ve been fortunate enough to see. With each journey awaits new discoveries, some monumental, others seemingly hidden from view as if waiting to be uncovered.

Often times we pass over little treasures in search for something more grand. I enjoy making photographs that force us to view common subject matter out of context. By isolating the subject it is given new importance, making the simplest things magical.

My interest in photography has taken me all around the world, and I’ve been inspired by the people and landscapes

A Casual Glance to the Left

of many countries, but I try not to let the photograph rely simply on its location. My hope is that the style of the images

toned silver gelatin print 14x14

and quality or the prints will tie all of the work together,

printed on 16x20, by artist

and I hope to add to this body of work in the years to come.

6919 E 1ST AVE, SCOT TSDALE, 8 5251

|

|

4 80. 280. 8000 FIATLUXG ALLERY.COM