LUCIDMEDIA

Image Maker: Kevin Kavanaugh

Written by Adam A. Donaldson Tuesday, 26 June 2007 11:42

Windsor Ontario's Kevin Kavanaugh blends socio-political messages and photography to create intensely thought provoking art through a gender sensitive lens. To be an independent photographer, commercially successful, and an artist, in Windsor is quite and achievement. As culturally diverse as Windsor may be, its not know for its embrace of unique and independent art.

I first noticed Kevin Kavanaugh's striking black and white photographs on the covers of Windsor's independent magazine The Drive, over a year ago. To say the least it left a memorable impression. Kevin is The Drive's principle photographer, and what I later learned was the original creator of the magazine. Kevin's commercial work is widely dispersed and proudly displayed throughout the city. His ability to create a compelling image is truly unforgettable. It was not until my interview with Kavanaugh that I realized the intense extent of his diversity as a photographer and artist including a range from commercial still life, avant-garde hair competition photography, hi fashion editorial, band photography and personal art exhibitions to name a few .

Covers of The Drive Magazine, Analogue and Digital

Kavanaugh is not only battling art conventions in a regional market like Windsor, he is challenging the general publics perception of photographic art through a medium that is generally reserved for the projection of reality. I have always admired the self-taught artist, and Kevin Kavanaugh is one of them. His formal education includes a B.A in Communication Studies from Windsor University, but learning photography was entirely a trial and error process for him. “I can remember my first time taking an actors headshot…and when I got the negatives back, his face was all out of proportion…I had no idea that you cannot get proper proportions with a wide angled lens while shooting a close up…” explains Kavanaugh as an example of his learning process. It was important to him to learn from his mistakes and only make them once. “The best thing about being self taught artistically is that there are no rules of thumb to abide by, no bad angles, should or should nots and this somehow added to the creative process.” I met this self proclaimed image maker at his studio to get a feel of where his images are created and what lies behind the meaningful elements of his art photography. For me the real inspiration derived from a story like Kevin Kavanaugh's comes from his desire to pursue a passion, with the drive to make it his life’s work, and to succeed on a multi-dimensional level.

I was overwhelmed and inspired by the variety of his work, but it's easy to romanticize the artistic and creative element of diversity. “In the Windsor market,” notes Kavanaugh, “you can not specialize in anything but diversity. One day I’m shooting corporate portraiture, the next day it’s product photography, the next day a fashion shoot, the next day it’s a musician’s CD, and the next its an actor's headshot. In the line of commercial work you wear a number of different hats. You have to be able to relate to people and make them feel comfortable when working with individuals who have never been in front of a camera before and at the end of the day need to represent a company’s image in a positive way. But I've done well by it. There is a lot of pressure, and stress shooting this way, because everyday you have to gear up, research and educate yourself for the specific shot at hand. But I would like to specialize in something other than diversity one day”

Pat Robitaille's - Summer of Love CD Cover

Kavanaugh radiates vibrant energy that is nothing short of contagious. His engaging manner reflects in the quality of his work. “My main goal is to make images,” said Kavanaugh. “I love the energy, I'm going to take this moment and make it mine and theirs and everyone else that is in the room, and during that process, you want it to be there right away, you want it to be immediate but for the most part it isn’t. This is when I turn it on…changing the lighting, having the subject contort as if they are attending a yoga class, make very bad jokes, get uptight and as a last resort make an entire fool of myself…anything to get the image through the lens to match the vision in my mind. Sometimes the worst thing for a photographer is admitting that it was a contrived shoot. That it didn't just happen miraculously, that you actually have to control things and tilt their head a certain way to achieve the final product. Kavanaugh's creative expression come across as effortless, but in a photography market standing out as a unique artist is anything but effortless. “My forte is thinking outside the box, and offering imagery that has never been seen before, weather it be good or bad, it's the uniqueness that I am trying to achieve with my art photography, by designing my own work, from concept to technique,” said Kavanaugh. “I am giving the image relevance in my own existence and trying to make it legitimate within the real world. And when that happens it’s a very cool exchange.”

After working with film for 12 years he made the transition to digital in 2003. Generally there is a sense of political and technical resistance towards digital photography.
Kavanaugh was quick to respond, “Oh yeah, I had a huge issue with digital photography. It made a lot of people photographers who weren’t before. I predicted it would cheapen the photographic process, and all of these cheap stock photography sites are a prime example of this. It was entirely a specialty discipline prior to in induction of digital cameras and now has become much more common place for every digital camera user to create decent images. But as an image maker I have adapted to digital photography, I'm no longer against it. Environmentally it is way better. You’re talking to someone who spent, 40-50 hours a week in his parent’s wine cellar developing film, in chemicals with no ventilation for years when I first started my darkroom. Not exactly the healthiest past-time. My gig as a film photographer was to expand the boundaries of photography. I’d always ask myself, what can I do with this medium that has never been done before? I’d then conceive an image with pencil and paper and begin the process of making it into a photograph.”

Test Shot Fashion Model

Kavanaugh has created phenomenal images through his manipulation of the film process. I was wowed by the image entitled The Fall, created in 1998, which is a classic example of his analogue process. Kavanaugh points out, “As soon as film went to digital, all that went out the window. How could I expand on a medium that literally had no parameters as digital does? It was at this point that I decided to give up on the pioneer thing because while I used to create magical, surreal images with an age old medium I now had to justify my final images against the possibilities of the digital process. With film photography my techniques had the hands on ingenuity of sculpture, working within the confines of the properties of film and what they had to offer. For example, I did an exhibit called AKA in which I photographed a number of my peers asking them to convey different expressions as I captured from a common angle. Once they were developed I’d cut apart the negatives, mix them up and reassemble them on a light table. Once I was happy with the arrangement I would project the pieced together negative and exhibit as such. The interesting thing about this particular project is that you got a broader sense of the subjects’ character from the multi faceted portraits. During the late 1990’s I was creating a number of images utilizing this and other darkroom techniques, so called multi-layered images, where I would shoot five or six different shots and layer the projections onto one piece of photographic paper to create the final surreal image. With digital you can create an image like this is a few hours, whereas it took months to create them on film.”

An example of this type of analogue process is “The Fall” created in 1998.

The Fall, 1998 Analogue

In the world of digital photography the manipulating options of an image are seemingly limitless. However, Kavanaugh's new images look masterfully constructed. “It's a fine line,” noted Kavanaugh, “because you can over work and image, digital photography can become overwhelming because of all the options with the computer and what you can do with an image. I have a hard time deciding when a computer generated image is finished or finalized, because you can change so much of it, you can darken the corner, you can take out a pimple, elongate their neck, add a background, etc. What I do like about the digital process is sitting in front of a mediocre image and simply messing around until it becomes something visually stimulating. I like the way an image speaks to me as far as what it needs or doesn’t need and which effects to apply to make it a better overall image.”

Film photography offered different conceptual challenges. The artist has to plan ahead. “Before digital you had to predict the outcome of what you shoot,” said Kevin. “As an analogue technician while you are shooting, what you are getting is not a tangible thing at that moment, you have to wait until you process it to really understand what you're getting. So a lot of the decisions about the image are made prior to commencing the shot. With digital, you don't have to match your film to your situation or decide weather you're shooting black and white as this can all be determined during the post process. It simply introduced a new way of producing an image. During my film days it was all about the final image and the experience of me listening to music in my dark room, and slowly watching my vision come to fruition. It was a huge buzz for me. With film it was much more interesting process because I truly felt I was challenging what's been done before,” Much like MAN RAY was during his time as a photo artist.

As an artist Kavanaugh continues to challenge public perceptions of photography as art. “The public is accustomed to seeing photojournalism, portraiture, architecture and I saw this as the public norm when defining photography,” said Kavanaugh. “It was my intention as a photo artist to combat these common views of photography. Although I shoot street work I wanted to create images that were not only visually appealing but also pieces that had a relevant or ironic message through title, by applying what I consider to be a further artistic element when considering the piece as a whole. I don’t know if the public are used to considering the title of a photograph as much as they are say…a painting. Pondering the meaning of a photograph as much as a painting would seem trite to some I guess.” “I wanted to challenge in the viewer their definitions of photography as art.”

Avante-Garde Digital Fashion Image

Kavanaugh's pioneering work with analogue film shines through in his personal art photography. In discussing his piece entitled Virtual Stimulation (Cybersex), created in 1996, Kevin explains : “Virtual Stimulation (Cybersex) was an installation piece that I exhibited in 1996. It was inspired by the induction of the World Wide Web (www) as an everyday item. I somehow knew at the time that we were going through a major societal shift with being introduced to such a vast amount of information, opinions and ideals. I wanted to convey to the public through Virtual Stimulation a “public message” where there seemed to be none, that what we are experiencing is, albeit closer to real face to face human experience than any medium to date, computer generated. I wondered how we would react, engage and pervert as we were exposed to the numerous items that were never an immediate possibility in the past. Adding to my skepticism was the fact that this new found information highway had no speed limits, no lanes, no police as its contents were completely unregulated and uncensored. We live in a world where the majority of laws govern only those who reside within a certain geographic area, but we were now playing a part of a govern-less society while surfing amongst our new found international neighbours.”

Virtual Stimulation (Cyber Sex), 1996 Analogue

“The Virtual Stimulation piece was aimed at creating a virtual environment within the space it was presented. The audience would first notice this deranged, electrified body, with circuits for veins and a monitor for a head. They then are introduced to the human inside the computerized body. He has bags under his eyes and a stunned look on his face as if he is frantically navigating his possessed body along the super information highway from inside his new found digitized alter ego. His hands are pressed against the glass compelled by something that has captured his attention. That something is the four images hung directly in front of him. Sexual images of what appear to be a naked woman. But it's not photographs of women, it’s of a naked Barbie doll.”

“The audience is not always informed of the origin of these four alluring images and sometimes find themselves attracted to them as well. This is where the entire exhibit comes to fruition. The audience without knowing the nature of the images have become attracted to naked photos of a Barbie doll, hence Virtual Stimulation (Cybersex).
I created this instillation to demonstrate the implications of digital on our society.”

Technique_ This image was created entirely on Black and White negative film by shooting 1st a silhouette of the body, then on the same exposure shooting a computer board. The head was produced by originally shooting the face with headset, printing it on photo paper and then tapping it into the screen area at which point it was photographed again as a whole. The final image was a multiple projection of two separate negatives (the head and the body) creating a print 3.5 feet x 5.5 feet on resin coated silver photo paper. When this was installed into the gallery it was facing 4 - 8x10 images of an obscured naked Barbie doll in various poses but highlighting the breasts and buttocks of the plastic doll.

“I am still a photographer (because of the medium) but where the 'image maker' applies is within my approach, utilizing age old techniques to create my visions and images photographically. I think that anyone who has experience hand printing black and white images will look at my pieces and marvel at the technique.”

Making a living as a unique and independent artist has offered challenges as photographer.
“Everything is a side for me, but my true art,” said Kavanaugh. “I like to consider myself independent, and if you want to be independent, you have to have money. It was better for me to shoot commercially and be around cameras, instead of working in another type-of job and then shooting photography as a past time, or as an art. So photography has become my life on that level. Thankfully I have not had to become a portrait studio but I do earn my living as a commercial photographer. Everyone said I couldn't make a living at it within this market, but I've done it. It’s a matter of determination and creating a niche market.” “Offering the clients something they would never expect from a smaller market…things like quality, professionalism and every once and a while, art.”

Kavanaugh created and exhibition entitled “Pieces of Dorothy June” in 2004, as his last homage of film photography. The exhibit featured 14 black and white piece of the same model (his wife) Dorothy June Rabideau. The photographs were designed to offer the new visual experience for the audience by utilizing the traditional medium of film and paper photographic processes. The 16x20 matte prints on fiber-based paper were presented with vibrant coloured glassless frames thus creating an entire non-reflective object when viewed. As a part of the exhibit Kavanaugh wrote a statement which was titled “100 per cent non-digital” mounted on a plaque. It explored the differences between film and digital photographic processes and the decision/knowledge elements that are a part of the unique mediums. It was aimed at educating the public regarding the truths of how it is that we come about a final image using both mediums, from start to finish.

I fell in love with a piece called “Grandmother Nature,” 2004, which was part of the Dorothy June exhibition. “Grandmother Nature” projects a reflection of powerful femininity strength, and wisdom.

Grandmother Nature, an excerpt from the portrait series “Pieces of Dorothy June," 2004 Analogue

Technique_ This image was created entirely by the processes of analogue (Film) photography. It was setup and shot in a studio with a slide projection of clouds aimed at the background. Once the negative was processed it was printed to matte fiber base silver gelatin photographic paper. As a last step, the whites of the eyes were hand bleached to establish the eerie stare.

Kavanaugh explained, “'Grandmother Nature' is my take on a portrait of Mother Nature set in the present day. It is intended to invoke environmental awareness in the viewer, for if we consider Mother Nature a metaphor for our earth, she is now shown here, aged, flogged and ready to lash out with a snap of her fingers at those who offer her no respect. Her illuminated spherical dress encompasses the earth as she contemplates its fate.”

What I find most intriguing about Kavanaugh as an artist is his ability to project his socio-political perceptions in a personal way. I notice the strong influence of fashion photography in “Grandmother Nature.” I asked him to explain how he combines commercial fashion with his personal art? “Fashion photography is an art and I want to conceptualize for that side of the industry,” he explained. “I love beauty and fashion is where the goal of the image is to be beautiful, interesting and compelling. I'm very interested in including all of these elements in a shot.”

Kavanaugh’s gender sensitive art like The Wayward Princess, and The Capture of the Mermaid, The Foremother's Generation focus on the representation of women from a male perspective. Kavanaugh explained, “The Capture of a Mermaid” which was apart of the Dorothy June exhibition reflects the origins of mermaids. Historically, mermaids (sirens) represent the allure of women to men. As the story goes, male sailors would hear beautiful singing while at sea and were drawn to see where or what the singing was coming from. Upon their meeting the mermaids would capture the men from the boats and take them under the to the depths of the sea.

The Capture of a Mermaid, an excerpt from the portrait series “Pieces of Dorothy June," 2004 Analogue

Kavanaugh felt that "The Capture of a Mermaid” represented the true sense of trust, love within a life long relationship such as a marriage, no longer threatened or jealous by the allure but 100% accepting of it. Kevin explained, "the entire Dorothy June exhibition and the majority my art work are very personal, it's either me defending some type of cause that exists within my society or reflecting on it always from a personal perspective. I only think what I think and do not expect others in any way to have the same mental processes, emotions, ethics or experience as me. I’ve tried to make it a common place but only frustrated myself during the process. The Dorothy June exhibit was my considering my relationship with my wife and all that she and other women are faced with in Western society through a portrait series. When you think of all the female icons that exist, it is hard not to consider their relevance. I like creating outside my gender and mainly with a sympathetic nature." The exhibit of Pieces of Dorothy June considered all kinds of female social realities such as womanhood, racism, vanity, folk lore, consumerism and religion. "It is important for me to convey through photographs a message. “I think that the aspect of personalizing art is missing in our culture, said Kevin.” “Way too deep man!”

As and artist and photographer Kevin's work has deeply moved me through his reflection and awareness of culturally enforced gender roles. Artistically he produces imagery that evokes self reflection without loosing sight of the artists’ message. From the routine earth of commercial photography Kevin Kavanaugh has brought to full flowing, the concept of art photography.

Kavanaugh has married art and commercial photography, through a self defining agenda. The result. Phenomenal. I recommend you view his collected works on his recently launched website. http://www.kevkavphoto.com/