Garry Fabian Miller on cibachrome paper.
Listen now
Description
What does an artist do when the material he has devoted his working life runs out?  Garry Fabian Miller is a renowned photographer, who doesn’t use a camera in his practice. Instead, he works in his dark room and relies on a combination of light and cibachrome paper, using exposures that can last between one to twenty hours.   His extraordinary, abstract pieces are inspired by nature and the things his sees on his walks around his home in Dartmoor.  His work is held in an array of public and private collections, including MoMA in New York, the Sir Elton John Collection and the V&A in London. Meanwhile his latest book – and there have been many – is entitled Blaze and features a forward from an old friend of the show, Edmund de Waal. Trouble is that, thanks to the rise of digital photography, production of cibachrome halted in 2012 and supplies have dwindled to nothing. This is the story of how he has coped.   In this episode we talk about: the vital role light and cibachrome paper have played in his life; the importance of Dartmoor to his process; deciding to discard the camera; growing up as a child in a dark room; photography as a medium of magic; feeling like an ‘edge player’; his love of the etcher Robin Tanner and punk rocker Poly Styrene; and, of course, dealing with the dying days of his craft. You can learn more about Garry here And you can sign up to my newsletter here Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/materialmatters?fan_landing=true)
More Episodes
Bas van Abel founded Fairphone in 2013. The company attempts to transform the way our smartphones are manufactured, by reducing e-waste, sourcing conflict-free minerals, and improving working conditions in its supply chain. It creates a product consumers are encouraged to keep longer and which,...
Published 02/19/24
There have been over 100 episodes of Material Matters but, for listeners who might be new to all this, the idea is that I speak to a designer, maker, artist, or architect about a material or technique with which they’re intrinsically linked and discover how it changed their lives and...
Published 02/12/24