Monday Blog

COLLEEN PLUMB

The Animals Are Outside Today series

Statement:
I began this project in 1997 looking at ‘fake nature’, wondering what substitutions for nature can satisfy in people. Looking deeper I began photographing live/real animals and how they can be a link for us to a world far from the reality and pace of contemporary life, as well as provide an intangible link to a deeper world of instinct and rawness.

Growing up in Chicago gave me an urban childhood: running through gangways
and exploring alleys with my friends. Something more and more kids today don’t experience. Early on, seeds for my interest in nature were planted through lots of outside play, camping trips, and odd pets (our duck named Sir Francis Drake, for example). I am sure these beginnings influence and inspire my work.

This series of photographs examines the essence of our connection, as well as our fragmentation from the natural. I am interested in the ever increasing disconnection that exists between humans and the natural world. The work explores simulation, consumption, destruction, and reconstruction as well as notions of endurance and the reality of loss.
As this project continues to develop, I find that sequencing the work in books has become a large part of my creative process.

Gallery: http://www.20x200.com/artists/colleen-plumb.html
Bio:

Born and raised in Chicago, Colleen Plumb worked as a graphic designer for several years before switching gears to pursue a degree in photography. She holds an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago (1999), where she is currently an adjunct faculty member. She makes photographs about connections--or the lack thereof--between humans and the natural world.

Plumb’s work is in several collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, IL and Fidelity Investments in Boston, MA. Her photographs are part of the Midwest Photographers Project at the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Chicago Project at Catherine Edelman Gallery and are featured online in Photo-Eye’s Photographer’s Showcase. Plumb’s work has been widely published.

She was a 2008 First Edition Hot Shot at Jen Bekman Gallery. She has upcoming solo shows at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO and the Historic Water Tower Gallery in Chicago.