photo of redbeardJohn Lindenmayer is a multimedia artist based in the midwest. He earned a BFA from the University of Michigan with a concentration in color photography. He is an outspoken social/environmental activist and conveys this message throughout his work.

While studying filmmaking at the Uof M, Lindenmayer realized that film, video, and photography shaped our culture by playing pivotal roles in the daily lives of contemporary society. After his grandfather passed down a 35-mm camera he was seduced by the still image. Objects, colors, and events perceived only for an instant could be captured and shared. After diligent work in the darkroom Lindenmayer experienced what he documented. The photographs presented opportunities for the artist to share his life perspective with others.

Lindenmayer spent many hours honing his critical eye and darkroom skills. He became a fine craftsman of hand printing color black & white photographs. The ability to print professional, enlarged images motivated Lindenmayer to pursue his first solo exhibit.

In November of 2001 The Beauty of Recycling exhibit was hung in Ann Arbor's City Hall to commemorate America Recycles Day. The series of images were taken while studying under Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Taro Yamasaki. Each pupil was to pick a subject and document it for four months. The outcome, for Lindenmayer, generated dynamic images of crushed aluminum, broken glass, bales of paper, and images of laborers. The Beauty of Recycling was awarded the Gillette Memorial Award for photojournalism in 2001 and has since found homes in permanent collections across the country.

The success of the series pushed Lindenmayer in a journalistic direction. He served a short summer stint as a stringer for his hometown newspaper. The opportunity to publish work in a widely circulating newspaper prompted Lindenmayer's second body of work, Local Light, which is an introspective glimpse of his home town. A small historic midwest community fueled by local initiative and tourist dollars.

Light Works, Lindenmayer's third series, was born out of long exposures and camera movement. It is an ongoing experiment that pushes the principles of photographic exposure to heightened levels. Lindenmayer temporarily abandoned pictorialism as he completely abstracts his subjects into ephemeral images of heightened color and cosmic forms that harken the very inklings of life itself. Pure light caught in motion became the sole subject of the work. Artificial light is meticulously controlled, or uncontrolled as the case may be, to enliven the viewer's imagination.

Light Works also presented an opportunity for the artist to print on a larger scale than previously explored. Unique diptychs, triptychs, and composite printing of mirrored negatives offer viewers more than a recorded instant. Rather, chance is captured, carefully edited, and then left to personal interpretation.

Earthworks brought Lindenmayer back to a more traditional sentiment. The images are probably his most formal and idealistic compositions in his portfolio. Once again, time plays a decisive roll in the ongoing series from the Earthwork Farm in Northern Michigan. Time, however, is now represented through signs of decay, delapitation, and weather. They are the conquest of nature over man. Our many machines eventually rust and return to the earth. The images revere the land and pay homage to the ideal of simple life. They breath life as they present realistic images of beautiful blue skies acting as backdrops for the decaying skulls of cattle. Tall autumn grasses grow around yellow school buses that have not moved in years. Doors with peeling paint left for the burn pile create perfect backdrops for falling leaves.

With the hesitation of corrupting the ideal, Lindenmayer views these images as "fleeting glimpses of zenful moments." Earthwork Farm has found a special place in the artist's heart and work. He returns often to capture the vitality and beauty of the land and refers to is as is a place of contemplation and safe haven for the reflective psyche.

Lindenmayer sees the camera as a powerful tool of documentation. Whether using it journalistically to document people and events or to conceive abstracted images that push a 2D medium through realms of space and time, Lindenmayer will continue to produce thought provoking imagery by virtue of his photography and fine art. Lindenmayer prides himself with the title of fine artist. Beyond photography, he creates mixed media 2D and 3D works. His latest endeavors have him exploring alternative materials and processes. Tea, rust, and food colorings from over the counter medicines are just a few of the materials he is currently experimenting with in a new series called Organics. (working title)

Click below to see the work.

Portfolio
Photo of the artist courtesy Matt Glass, copyright 2001