High Street Station Cafe
Corner of High St & Encinal
1303 High St. Alameda, CA 94501 (510) 995-8094

Curator: Joanne Johnson

The Photography of Jeffrey Cullen & Joanie Mitchell

September, 2012

Opening Reception: TBA

Jeffrey Cullen

Generally, two different influences mark my photographic work and give it an artistic quality.  I find there is something viscerally pleasing in the order of clearly defined lines and angles, geometric shapes, enhanced by color found in the cityscape.  No matter where I stand my eye/mind line of vision sees an abundance of intersections, overlays, and color combinations.  Each experience is fleeting, inadvertent, and unless I capture it in a photograph it will probably go unnoticed.  Thus capturing the juxtaposition of a high-rise hotel next to a colorful department store on just the right sightline is esthetically satisfying.

And I am influenced by 20^th Century art styles.  I look for and find abstract expressions in the world’s random assortments and dada-esque quirkiness and value in everyday objects.  For me line, shape, texture, color, and contrast found in the commonplace become the subject and experience.  Thus my photographs of a wooden fence, pieces of broken glass, or an electricity meter are not really about fences, glass, or meters.  I am also attracted to graffiti, not to document its existence, but to repurpose it by isolating a portion so it can stand on its own as a new art object.  Thus the close-up focus on a face otherwise lost in a larger graffiti mural reinvents an emotional sensation.   ~ Jeffrey Cullen

                                   Color Me Cozumel by Jeffrey Cullen

                     Phone by Jeffrey Cullen