Featured Photographer: Suzanne Révy - "A Murmur in the Trees"
“Spring Flood, Concord River, Concord, MA 2020” © Suzanne Révy
There is a distinct and thoughtful difference between photographer Suzanne Révy and the photographs she makes. It goes unnoticed until you take the time to consider her process of making pictures versus the images and subject matter that draw her gaze. There's no grass growing beneath her feet as she readily adopts a camera and film combination appropriate to how she deems the work to look and feel. Moving between color and black and white film, as well as different film cameras and even a (gasp!) phone camera, the results always turn out to be solid and meaningful photographs. With this thought in mind, we wish to examine the background of a photographer who employs the right tool for the job while making subtle shifts in style, all the while retaining a specific aesthetic that can be found throughout. In doing so, we pay particular attention to Revy's latest body of work, A Murmur in the Trees, which takes understated elements from past works and includes them into her stunning multi-frame landscape studies.
Growing up under the endless blue skies and sunshine of Los Angeles, it was a move to Brooklyn to attend art school that her concentration in the visual arts took place. An interest in street photography and black and white darkroom printing was a reflection of becoming enamored with the bustling East Coast streets. Upon graduation, this fascination resulted in a job as the photo editor at a weekly news magazine. However, after a move to New England with her husband and a six-month stint with another magazine, she was ready to move on from publishing.
“Snow and Fog, Greenough Pond, Carlisle, MA 2019” © Suzanne Révy
A new career as the mother to two boys and domestic life soon took precedence over photography, but not for long. Then, documenting her growing boys, a return to image-making found its place once again. According to Révy, "I had always made photographs since high school, but it was not until I had children that I found my authentic voice in the medium by taking a deep look into the personal and emotionally intimate." The results of photographing in this vein had given life to three bodies of work before her sons had grown and begun their college years.
It should also be noted that five years ago, Révy made a return to the classroom and achieved one of her bucket list items – earning her MFA in photography. There was a strong writing component to the program during this time, and she realized how much she enjoyed it. Writing about her life and work in photography clarified her thinking around the creative process, and analyzing the work of other photographers opened the door to a deeper understanding of the medium. This, of course, resulted in her becoming a stronger, more consistent artist. Consequently, Révy has since partnered with writer and curator Elin Spring for the online site, "What Will You Remember?" Along with Spring, they review exhibitions in Boston and around New England and conduct interviews and review photography books.
“Carlisle and Bedford Line, Carlisle, MA 2020” © Suzanne Révy
Moving forward after years of documenting her family life into concise collections, it became time to slow down and consider how next to advance her photography. Looking back, "Like any suburban mom, I spent hours driving my kids to after-school activities for several years, usually late in the day when the light was getting beautiful. As I drove, I would glance at the landscape and wish I could explore it with a camera, and a seed was planted." A Murmur in the Trees was not far behind.
Initial sojourns into the neighboring forests started spontaneously enough by pulling out her trusty Mamiya 7 camera, thinking back to her street photography days and freedom from tripods. However, as the project continued to develop, it was clear that more robust tools like the Mamiya RZ67 and sturdy tripod were required to compose the diptychs and triptychs she was creating for the final works. Kodak Portra 400 film quickly became the suitable palette of choice, as well.
While A Murmur in the Trees might be categorized as landscape photography, there is far more than meets the eye within each frame. There are changing seasons, gorgeous light, details like rippling water and drifting fog, and the inclusion of the occasional picnic bench, dog, or even family member, which harken back to her days of documenting family. Révy explains, "In interpreting the landscape, I'm interested in inviting viewers to slow down to take a more careful look at the details in the photographs. When a twig or a rock or the swirl of water appears twice in two frames of a triptych, we stop to consider it. It brings attention to itself, and we do a "double-take." I am interested in the capacity to understand nature, the landscape, and, more broadly, climate change by being careful observers of it. And I think it's important, as the Transcendentalists described, that we find ways to live in harmony with the natural world by embracing the changing light of each season and the understanding rhythms in the life cycles of trees, rivers, and meadows." Another aspect of these photographs was the realization that, with a triptych, for example, each frame needed to be its own fully formed image, or the sequence of the triptych would simply not work.
A Murmur in the Trees is printed and presented in two ways. Smaller image diptychs, triptychs, and tetraptychs are printed together on single sheets of paper, while larger print sizes are individually printed, framed, and hung side by side.
Future plans for the work include the desire to add two more portfolios of photographs from her time growing up in California, and summers in Switzerland, to complement the New England portion.
GALLERY
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Suzanne Révy is a photographer, writer, and educator. She earned a BFA in photography from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. After college, she worked as a photography editor in magazine publishing for fifteen years. With the arrival of two sons, she left publishing and created a visual photographic diary of their lives. In 2016, she earned her MFA in photography from the New Hampshire Institute of Art and, more recently, has been exploring the landscape around her home in the suburbs of Boston.
She has exhibited at the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Danforth Museum of Art, among many other regional and national galleries. Révy teaches at the Institute of Art and Design at New England College. She is the associate editor of the online photography review magazine, What Will You Remember?, and serves on the board of the Photographic Resource Center in Cambridge, MA.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Kirchoff is a photographic artist, independent curator and juror, and advocate for the photographic arts. He has been a juror for Photolucida’s Critical Mass, and has reviewed portfolios for the Los Angeles Center of Photography’s Exposure Reviews, PhotoNOLA, and CENTER’s Review Santa Fe. Michael has been a contributing writer for Lenscratch, Light Leaked, and Don’t Take Pictures magazine. In addition, he spent ten years (2006-2016) on the Board of the American Photographic Artists in Los Angeles (APA/LA), producing artist lectures, as well as business and inspirational events for the community. Currently, he is also Editor-in-Chief at Analog Forever Magazine, Founding Editor for the online photographer interview website, Catalyst: Interviews, and a Contributing Editor for the column, Traverse, at One Twelve Publishing. Previously, Michael spent over four years as Editor at BLUR Magazine.