.....There was this kid, once. He drew in his Mom's LOOK magazines and drove her crazy with it. He would sit in the back yard and construct cities out of junk, naming them and giving those cities populations and census statistics, like what he would see in an almanac. That kid was me, of course. I suppose I was always attempting to construct worlds. I still do, really. Worlds based on Glam and Post Punk. The look of silent films, and cinema in general. Worlds with a certain style......Surrealism....Pop Art..........New York seems to be a perfect environment for me. I roam it, absorbing what I see and hear. Taking photos and writing down my ideas, often while riding city buses. Riding buses Looking for inspiration, which really isn't hard to find here. It's what I love doing, most. Art, music and writing. Building something I can't really name yet. It's all ongoing and transitional......Aiming for that glittering thing in the distance.......
Mark McGee
Octvember
...The title of the photo album, Octvember, is basically a combination of Autumn months....
Haunted Songs
Haunted Songs is an album of photos that I took from late November to early December of 2018...
Look
The idea began quickly, as a way of shooting black and white photos in a way that reminded me of photos in LOOK and LIFE magazines when I was younger...
A Likely Story
...I catch a bus, partly awake. On the bus, the world slides by as I head down Lexington Avenue, passing people who seem in an awful hurry to get to work late...
Teenage Revolution
The Title of the album was meant to evoke a certain sense of surrealism and irony. Dark and at times funny in a strange way. I wanted a group of photos that stood together in a very focused way, apart from some of the other photos I was taking at the time. I wanted something a little askew.
Through The Red Filter
....I've always really liked experimenting with various filters and tints for my photos and art. Recently, I've been using the red filter a lot. It turns blue skies yellow and sometimes green. Often, the photo ends up looking like a painting, or maybe even an old Polaroid.
Take a Bus. Catch a Train. Walk Around
When I'm not working at my day job, I spend much of my time traveling on buses and trains. Getting from here to there, walking and taking photos. Then I Get back on a bus or a train, going somewhere else, often deciding where to go on the way there. I normally work on photos while in transit, or, for example, on a street corner in Times Square. Or Bushwick. Wherever. That's one of the beauties of having a smartphone. I take the photos and edit on the go.
Stranded in Infinity
....The title of this profile came to mind in Bushwick, while standing under the elevated subway line. It seems to stretch on forever in either direction. I suppose the title is also a bit of a metaphor. Imagine being stuck in a constant state of Wednesday...
Hypnotically Your’s
I've had a close friend of mine call much of my art and photos "hypnotic" over the years. I suppose if one looks through one of my albums, especially quickly, a sort of hypnosis could set in. My work often includes many variations on a piece, plus some that may be seen as dreamlike. So, hypnotic is probably an apt description. And I rather like it, too.
Down on the Street
....Let's face it. Graffiti is a big part of New York's artistic allure. I came to this city in 1978 and loved the gritty atmosphere. The chaotic visual noise. The loud music. The glamour of it all. Graffiti has undoubtedly had an influence on my art. Especially in the colors I use and the tone.
The Other August
....I normally think of August as My Month. The month I was born in. For me, and more so as I get older, it's a time of crossroads. Introspection. Doubt. These photos are taken from an album of work I somewhat jokingly titled "The Other August." They were fun to take. A lot work. A lot of walking.
Alien Flowers. Rust Spires. Neon Chaos
...One of my favorite places to take photos is below an elevated train line. Some photos work on their own, but I do love using the mirroring effects and changing the tints and Lighting. Often, the result looks retro futuristic or alien. I do the same thing with some photos of flowers, skylines and household objects. It's fun. I rarely know what it will look like in the end. It's sort of an adventure I can have after the long walks finding the subjects to capture.
Monochrome
Certain photos call for the black and white treatment. Or a tint, such as sepia. I don't normally think about it for very long. It has to do with atmosphere, I suppose. Often, I do several versions in different tints, and in color. That said, we get back to atmosphere. The English tourists gazing out the train window at their first sight of Luna Park simply had to be black and white. And it was a lovely moment.
Continuum
With Art, I tend to move forward very quickly. I don't normally pay much attention to what I've done in the past. I do often worry, though, when I'm working in a new style suddenly, about how it fits in with what I've done before. I just keep on going and try to not make sense of it. Sometimes I do revisit older ideas and notice that, if I take a long view of my photography and art over the past 20 years, there is a sort of Continuum. A cohesion. I've always just kept on a working. It's my antidote to the depression you can get after finishing a project. I never stop.
Sidewalking
Sometimes I just walk and walk. It can be a bit hypnotic. But I love a sunny day, seeing what's out there. I may even have missed something the last time I was here or there. I'm at my happiest when I see something interesting, graffiti or a cat in a window, whatever the case may be, and the opportunity seems to have been waiting just for that moment. There are brilliant days. Sidewalking. Taking in the World.
Reflections of New York
Realities. There are too many realities. Everybody has them. They compliment one another. They clash or simply cannot be in the same room together. This town's not big enough for so many realities. Some can't be seen with the naked eye, or not directly. Some are too obvious to be taken seriously, or too ridiculous to dismiss. My camera has its own realities. I sort through the photos it has allowed me to take and display them as the versions. The shards. The manipulations and experiments. The evidence.
Inside Out and Upside Down
....I'm always curious to see what the photos I take will look like inside out and upside down. Both, really. When I'm out walking, I may see a tangle of bicycles, or the way light from a restaurant plays on a sidewalk at night. Things that may seem random. Later, I manipulate the images. Sometimes strange shapes appear. Even faces. It's fun. There are possibilities for mayhem in the simplest objects and scenes, so I take the pictures as I go. I never know.
March, 2017
El Drama de Aly is simply Fantastic. Surrealism. Brilliant early 20th Century cinema stills. Always terrific photography. Great art. I'm always happy to check in and see what's new, or old, and out of this World. I'm thrilled to be profiled, and a bit humbled to be included in their universe. Thank you Very much, and Rock On.
Variations on Photo Manipulation
About Mark Mcgee
.....There was this kid, once. He drew in his Mom's LOOK magazines and drove her crazy with it. He would sit in the back yard and construct cities out of junk, naming them and giving those cities populations and census statistics, like what he would see in an almanac. That kid was me, of course. I suppose I was always attempting to construct worlds. I still do, really. Worlds based on Glam and Post Punk. The look of silent films, and cinema in general. Worlds with a certain style......Surrealism....Pop Art..........New York seems to be a perfect environment for me. I roam it, absorbing what I see and hear. Taking photos and writing down my ideas, often while riding city buses. Riding buses Looking for inspiration, which really isn't hard to find here. It's what I love doing, most. Art, music and writing. Building something I can't really name yet. It's all ongoing and transitional......Aiming for that glittering thing in the distance.......
Mark McGee
