Critics Pick

PROJECT STATEMENT

This series was photographed in Kansas over the past decade, on the farm of my husband's grandparents.  The land has been in the family for many generations and much of his family's roots, identity, and stories are tied to this particular plot of earth.  This project is about place and history, about memory and story.  It's about the things that tie us together, and the things that bring us back.

ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY - NATALIE YOUNG

Natalie grew up in the South - Arkansas and Texas.  She began painting and drawing at a young age, however she did not discover photography until college.  While pursuing a degree in finance, she began dating a musician-poet.  She quickly realized he was having much more fun with his life, and this inspired a bit of soul searching about her choices.  She finished her degree, married the musician, then turned her full energy toward her love of art and photography.  After a memorable stint in Nashville, she and her husband relocated to Southern California in 2000, where they now live at the beach with their little dachshund, Georgia, and spend a disproportionate amount of time playing beach volleyball.  Life is good. 

Natalie was invited to be one of six featured artists in the Texas Photographic Society's Print Program for 2008, and she was selected to attend this year's juried Review Santa Fe event.  Natalie was also awarded Honorable Mention in the TPS 17 National Competition juried by Lisa Sutcliffe of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which will open at the Dougherty Art Center in Austin and tour nationally. Natalie's work has recently been recognized in Shots Magazine and Flakphoto.com, and is in private collections around the country.  

She offers private viewings at her Los Angeles studio for interested collectors.  Natalie is also available for assignments and commissions.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

My photographs often explore the connection of the past to the present, and the relationship of people to their environment.  Personal identity and cultural history are often attached to a sense of place, and this can have a strong influence over the texture and stories of our life. 

I am very interested in the experience of family and cultural history ... the need for a story that ties us to a larger meaning, and the extent to which we either inherit larger stories or attempt to create newer ones. 

American culture encourages a bit of a rootless lifestyle and I find myself reacting to this by searching for ways to define my own stories, even if they are unconventional: my own sense of clan, of family history, my own claim to the earth and my environment. 

Not surprisingly, my photographs tend to be very personal.  However I think that many of the ideas I am exploring are part of a basic human instinct and tap into a larger psychic need we all share.

- Natalie Young

ACQUISITION INFORMATION

Toned silver gelatin
Approximately 6”x8”
Edition: 20, with 3 AP’s
Price: $750 
Prices increase as editions sell out (20% increase every 4)

CRITIC'S BIOGRAPHY

After a successful career as a film producer, Angela Krass formed FOTO&ART PROJX, a consultancy focusing on marketing for artists; its mission is to help artists understand and thrive in the art, publishing and advertising worlds.

She produced the advertising industry tome “KLIK” from Volume 8 through 11 (American Showcase), was photo editor for Graphis; and conceived, edited, produced and authored her dream-project, a sold-out book, “Photography Profile” (Graphis, 2006).

Throughout her diverse 20-year career, Angela has proven to be a skilled executive, visionary entrepreneur and adroit trouble-shooter. As a consultant she has nurtured numerous enterprises, projects and artists to success.

Angela participates in Critical Mass, Houston International Fotofest, The International Color Awards, Spider Awards, Graphis Photo Annuals, Nudes and Graphis Magazine. She is a member of ICP, NYWICI, Ladies Who Launch and WIPI.