When Frazier King isnt raising orchids, hes photographing them. Silky, sensual and delicate, the flowers in his photographs seem to be caught in mid-flight, suspended in air. King claims he had less than total control over the images in his new exhibit Orchidaceae, a series in black and white. They more or less chose me, he confesses. I raise them and have them around the house, but they seem to take on their own light and characteristics. The actual final look of the image is always a surprise because theres a certain randomness in the solarization. It sort of creates an environment by giving them atmosphere and depth. (Solarization, by the way, is a technique used to process photo negatives Man Ray used the same method.)
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So is King done with photographing orchids? There are 30,000 varieties of orchids, so I have some more shots left to take, he laughs.
King will lead a demonstration of the solarization process at 1 p.m. on Saturday, but you can catch the Orchidaceae exhibit during regular viewing hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Through June 21. The Museum of Printing History, 1324 West Clay Street. For information, call 713-522-4652 or visit www.printingmusuem.org.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Starts: April 17. Continues through June 21, 2008