ELEMENT present: The Road to Wolfeboro
When Element invited fine arts photographer Brian Gaberman to join them on a journey from New York to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, the result became a collision of two worlds in a mutual appreciation of simple life, skateboarding and the permanency of nature.
Johnny Schillereff founded his inclusive skateboard brand, Element, with one vision: bringing progress to skateboarding in the most honest and ethical way possible. The result is an environmentally aware brand, which focuses on bettering the sport and the associated community.
To Brian Gaberman, the youngest photographer ever featured in B&W Magazine, it is the elements on the sideline, which make the difference; photography is about capturing subtleties. Gaberman’s work is dominated by the ethereal picture quality, which is characteristic of wet plate collodion negatives. Capable of showing microscopically fine detail, the negatives create a unique photographic liquidity, which allows him to harness the mystery in every frame. To Gaberman the flaws and imperfections, which produce the dreamlike images, portray the world with astounding precision.
The Road to Wolfeboro is a coming of age story of an artist, who spent his youth in the concrete jungle of New York. Now an established photographer, Gaberman returns to rediscover the city. The freedom of his youth is offered anew by absolute creative autonomy, yet as Gaberman acknowledges, unlimited freedom is daunting. Uncertainty, however, makes way for spontaneity and re-evaluation. Thus, upon reaching Wolfeboro, the end goal has changed: for Gaberman the journey has become the destination, “moving through the world responding to instincts”.
The ghostly images appear antiquated, yet they tell an important story. This is a story about development, nature and the place of mystery and individuality. It captures the importance of uniqueness in even the most (seemingly) insignificant aspects of life.
The Road to Wolfeboro exhibitions:
November 21st, Barcelona
November 28th, Lisbon
December 4th, London