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| Phyllis Galembo’s recent
photographs taken during extended travels through the Caribbean, Brazil and Africa,
a deep respect for religious ritual combines with current stylistic preference
for highly formal and detailed observation of one’s subject. Her work differs
from that of other contemporary photographers in that rather than duplicate the
supposedly objective position of an anthropologist attempting to extract the meaning
from the scenes and people she observes and records, Galembo seems to be completely
taken by their personal vigor as individuals. The resulting images not only accomplish
an underlying goal of establishing direct visual links between present-day Africa
and African diasporan beliefs and practices, but they also personalize their subjects
by giving them a sense of complete familiarity with the photographer (and us).
Rather than exoticize the obvious passion with which spiritual belief is manifested
in these societies, Galembo actually manages to make it seem both beautiful and
curiously offhand, as if the lives captured in these photographs might be the
same as those lived by the same people we pass every day in the street. (excerpt from Dan Cameron's catalog essay, click to see full text) |
