Jennifer, thank you for taking time with us. I’d like to jump right in to your series, Medic, which I think has been described accurately as a ‘sensitive’ and ‘intimate’ glimpse into certain difficult moments in life—moments, where we have no choice to but to try to heal. Is that right? Is Medic about healing? Or is it about the suffering that preceded the healing?
I would say Medic is about relationships, the manner in which people love and care for each other. These images are about the testing of those relationships, the enormous strengths of them, the ways in which people can heal one another, cry out to one another, hear one another, hope for, and cherish one another.
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Your style is distinctive—monochromatic, romantic, patinaed. Did you consciously decide to explore a distinctive style or did it evolve more slowly?
The choice to make the images monochromatic is very deliberate. In a sense, I feel like it removes them once more from reality. It softens the impact of the figure against the machine, so that the two nearly become one. The tone is almost the effect of a Platinum Palladium print or similar, a warm black and white. The images are dark and cold. I was looking for a warmer tone to counteract the sterile environment of the photographs.
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In the series I see two very different ‘movements’—the ‘chamber’ pictures and the more two dimensional ‘wall’ pictures. Which came first? Did you consciously draw it along gender lines? If so, why? How hard was it to satisfactorily unify these two ‘movements’?
There are two distinct series; Medic, and Flora. Flora, the series with the women, was finished first, but only by a couple of months. Flora is certainly drawn on a gender line, as it deals with women’s roles, especially within the church. The work originated on a journey to Alcatraz island. I was very moved by the place, and learned that the prisoners tended the Flora while imprisoned there. I photographed all of the Flora I could find, and incorporated it into the work. Medic incorporates both men and women, though mostly men. This is not a comment on gender as much as an autobiographical reference to my own life.
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How much fashion photography do you/have you shoot/shot?
Gasp! I adore fashion. So, the answer is not nearly enough. I photograph a lot of women’s imagery, from editorial style, fashion, and portraiture. I will always welcome more.
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Who were your first photographic patrons or clients? Who are they now?
My first patrons were brides. When I began my career, I was photographing around 60 weddings a year. I burned out pretty quickly running a large business and doing that sort of volume. I sold my business after 7 years and narrowed my focus to create the four series I’ve recently completed. Now, my clients are a few women’s portraits each year, and those who purchase my work through galleries.
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Who are the luminaries in your photographic community? Who do you most trust with critique of your work?
First, my two best friends, Aziza Murray and Cornelia Oliver. They’re both artists, so they understand the plight, but moreover, they know my heart, and can call me out when I’m not true to it. Second; Adrienne Salinger, Kirsten Buick, and Jim Stone, who I’ve met here at UNM. So, really, it’s the people I’m closest to and know me well. I need to be able to respect someone, but most importantly, trust them.
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What drew you to these intensely beautiful antique machines that we see with the men? Do they frighten or comfort you?
I’m not sure they do either, or maybe they do both. When I made the work, I wanted the machines to take on a human quality, so that you could almost picture them as the second person in the image. I wanted them to have a complexity, like a person would. So, some of them are foreboding and mysterious, some are gentle and tender. Some ask questions, some provide answers.
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There’s a post-WWII feel to some of this material, did you have any ideas about the military or war in mind while you were making these pictures?
I feel as though there is a post apocalyptic feeling to the photographs. Though a great deal of the machinery is from the WWII era, I wasn’t looking to point to a war or military ideal, or even this specific time. Overall, I was looking for a sensibility of re-birth and repurposing of these unwanted objects.
You describe your inspiration for Medic beautifully as in part being about transference of pain. Do you think there are spiritual implications here?
There are always spiritual implications in my work. In each series, there has been an underlying, unifying theme of death and resurrection, consecration, redemption, regeneration, and re-birth.
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What creative endeavors do you pursue besides photography? Any photographers in the family?
I love fashion design. I’m taking a sewing class now, I’m really excited about making some beautiful new things. I love pottery, and I’m taking a weaving class now. I also love to sing, and I play the clarinet.
If you could do either at the same level, but only one, would you be a photographer or a painter?
A photographer. No question.
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Do you ever miss Texas?
I miss my family in Texas. Does that count?
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Jennifer Hudson is an Albuquerque, New Mexico based photographer who was born and raised in Texas.
See more of Jennifer’s work here.
