Featured Photographer: Jamie Swick - “Instant Transcendence”
We are living in a world that makes us feel irrationally crazy. Our reactions to the philosophical, moral, and popular cultures of society make those of us who use our observational skills to make rational deductions on the state of our planet feel alienated. We were sold a dream that consisted of families, careers, and homes that now, to the majority of young individuals, is unattainable. How can we possibly focus on becoming and remaining physically, emotionally, and economically healthy while at the same time acknowledging that we are living in a time of astonishing climate change? How are we supposed to enjoy a single moment of this beautiful blip of time we find ourselves inhabiting while our attention is constantly distracted with worry, anxiety, and helplessness about the earth and its inhabitants? Polaroid photographer Jamie Swick has discovered the answer. It may not be your answer but for her, it’s quite simple: master the ability to freeze time and obtain tranquility by combining the two powers in the world that have the ability to do so: nature and photography.
Swick’s environmental portraits of the Pacific Northwest, created with a Polaroid SLR680 and instant film, produce a distinct stillness that is undeniable. The varied colors and hues of her picturesque landscapes suggest a new era of environmentalism that isn’t fought by tying yourself to a tree, but by walking among them. She uses her camera as a catalyst to explore her local topography and become consumed by the world in a different way- not one of anxiety, doubt, and fear but of hope, beauty, and peace which provides a mental fortitude to the constant bombardment of unavoidable existential crises we all face. She has discovered that looking out into the vast wilderness of forests and beaches through your camera’s lens forces you to look inwards, a process of photographic mysticism. Even more profound is that you can take these weird scintillas of time and turn them into lasting tangible artifacts that extend their longevity into your daily life in times you can’t get away to find this peace.
This creative crossbreed of the natural world and the mechanical inventions of man allows Swick the ability to escape to a more primordial disposition, permitting overarching acceptance of herself, her surroundings, and the world at large. This isn’t to say she ignores the circumstances of her specific time, place, or circumstances. Rather, walks straight into them. She shared with us, “People are so quick to ignore the fact that they aren’t okay. That the world isn’t okay. They immediately try to run as fast as possible away from those things that make them feel uncomfortable.” For the artist, she instead weaponizes these feelings to pursue her craft. She told us, “The power of acknowledging these feelings in a state of stillness allows us to take the power back from the modern world’s anxiety-producing break-neck speeds and equips us to fight the next battle in our lives. How beautiful is it that the combination of art, photography, and nature can be the tool by which we realize how hopeful our situation actually is?”
The photographs presented allow viewers to tap into the moody, ethereal landscapes of the Pacific Northwest but also provide an opportunity for Swick to preach the transcendent qualities of acceptance and appreciation for how art helps achieve this. She noted, “I love being alive and I love being on this earth, but that comes with a lot of existential questioning. When I can look at a pile of pictures on my table created weeks or years ago, I can be put into the place where I belong without being physically present. It’s a sense of transformational magic that occurs from within while reminiscing over the fact that I have a reason to get through the rest of my days until I can experience it again.”
When viewing her photographs, this is self-evident. The first time I came across Swick’s Polaroids, I was immediately transported to a place of imaginative peace. Though her subjects are exciting and filled with color, an undercurrent of serenity calms your anxiety as you stare into her landscapes. The minor imperfections inherent in the medium she chooses replicate nature's fragile intricacies that we often take for granted. Her images open your eyes to the gradual change of light shades as the sun approaches the horizon and extends your heart outside your body as you realize how magnificent the sun is, even when hidden behind dense layers of oceanic fog. Within each photograph, there are artifacts that should be revered and internalized instead of simply acknowledged and forgotten about. The fact that she was able to achieve this with instant film, my favorite type of film, is remarkable.
Ultimately, we are all looking for hope, and if your hope is produced through the creation of images to inspire other people, what a sensational act of self-discovery and generosity. This isn’t to say this is the only way to achieve freedom from this state of emotional purgatory; you have to find what works for you. If that’s photography and nature, great. But, “until you start becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable, you will never find that precious nature of life or realize just how much you want to spend your time not feeling those ways. It’s going to take a lot of work, it’s going to be scary, but those situations won’t fail you because they just may allow you to be there for yourself, to breathe in and find some stillness.” If you don’t know where to start, try following Swick’s example and go outside with a camera; you never know what may stir your soul.
GALLERY
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Pacific Northwest photographer Jamie Swick spent a childhood oscillating between the mountains and rocky coastlines of New England. These places show themselves throughout her work as foundational footprints, foreshadowing her deep-rooted interest in the ethereal and quiet. Captivated by cold places, isolation, decay, memory, and the environment, her work explores solitude and stillness, a slowing down and extraction from America’s demanding modernity. Working with Polaroid film for over a decade, she has mastered the beautiful imperfection of this medium with her atmospheric images. Evidence of contemplative practice, poetry, and curiosity linger toward the edges of her work while inviting the viewer to step into the scene and breathe awhile. She works with SX-70 and SLR680 cameras.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Behlen is an instant film addict and the founder and publisher of Analog Forever Magazine. For the last 6 years, Behlen has become an obsessive community organizer in the film photography world, including launching the independent publishing projects PRYME Magazine and PRYME Editions, two enterprises dedicated to the art of instant film. Through these endeavors, he has featured and published 200+ artists from around the globe via his print and online publications.
He has self-published two Polaroid photobooks -“Searching for Stillness, Vol. 1” and “I Was a Pioneer,” literally a boxed set of his instant film work. His latest book, Searching for Stillness Vol II was published in 2020 by Static Age. He has been published, been interviewed, and been reviewed in a quantity of magazines and online publications, from F-Stop and Blur Magazine to the Analog Talk Podcast. He loves the magic sensuality of instant film: its saturated, surreal colors; the unpredictability of the medium; it’s addictive qualities as you watch it develop. He spends his time shooting instant film and backpacking in the California wilderness, usually a combination of the two.
Connect with Michael Behlen on his Website and on Instagram!
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