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Photography has been Elijah Cobb’s means of expression and livelihood for
over thirty years. Cobb made his first trip to Wyoming over twenty years ago
with an inspiration for an open camera and colored flash technique. Finding
Wyoming to be a source of inspiration, Elijah moved to Cody in 95.
Elijah’s early work of collaged landscapes and current work using colored
light came from a desire to be responsible for the image. Considered to be an
old school straight photographer, Elijah creates his art within the camera
relying minimally on darkroom and digital techniques, saving those techniques
solely for printing purposes.
"Over the years I have developed two major concerns in my photographic
work. One is to be more of a painter in creating my images, and the other is
to present a strong animistic / shamanic view of the world. Most recently I
have also become very interested in color and the interactions of color. This
has led me to photograph plain subjects with strong colors of light playing
across their surfaces."
"My desire to take more control of my images first led me to create
collages. These pictures were often made up of twenty different images
collaged together to create one realistic but distorted scene. I have been
painting with light for a number of years, a technique where I photograph in a
dark place, indoors or out, ’painting’ the image onto the film of the open
camera. Working with flashlights, small strobes, colored gels and the ambient
light of the moon and stars I create an image over a period of minutes or
hours. This gives me the feeling of my first experience of being in a large unlit
cave where it seemed that nothing existed until the light of my lantern light
fell on it. In the future I would like to create images without using subjects at
all, but rather by painting entirely with light on a blank surface."
"I believe that the world is full of the spirits of all things both animate and
inanimate. I have come to this view through an exposure to tribal cultures
and shamanic traditions. My most recent images are meant to create a feel
for and appreciation of the spirits around us. I would like to think that my
subjects understand what I am doing and at least are not embarrassed by my
efforts."
Elijah Cobb
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