Quarantine Chronicles : Rolls and Tubes
“Untitled, 2020” After Jerry McMillan, 1975 © Colleen Mullins
Written by Lamia Baladi
Following the shelter-in-place in cities all over the world, photographers are getting acquainted to a new way of life in self-isolation, which means adopting new approaches to bolster their creativity and stay motivated amidst these strange times. Four women photographers in the San Francisco Bay Area have shifted their habitual in-person planned critique group to online meetings, as is now the norm. Channelling inspiration and ideas for new projects to work on while at home, they focused on the surreal quality of our current situation and resolved to address it lightly, with ‘play and humour’ - something that is much needed now.
“Oakland, 2020” after Kenneth Josephson, Chicago, 1964 © Nicole White
Albert Renger-Patzsch, Blast Furnaces, near Lubeck, Germany, 1927
Last Tubes, near The Fillmore, United States, 2020 © Colleen Mollins
Their project Rolls and Tubes, referring to a canonical 1978 photography exhibition entitled ‘Mirrors and Windows’, was born. Colleen Mullins, Nicole White, Jenny Sampson and Christy McDonald are making use of their vested interest in art history to recreate famous photographs by using toilet paper as their muse.
Edward Weston, Shells, 1927
Rolls, 2020 © Colleen Mullins
Papeeja Ferolls Un-done, a Deputy Directress of Corona, Veils Face and Hands in the Presence of Me, 2020 © Jenny Sampson
Margaret Bourke-White’s Khadeeja Ferose Ud-din, a Deputy Directress of Education, Veils Face and Hands in the Presence of Men, 1947
Whether reenacting a Diane Arbus, Identical Twins portraits; Alec Soth’s Peter’s Houseboat or Harold Edgerton’s Hammer Smashing Light Bulb; the main subjects in the image are substituted for toilet paper. With toilet paper becoming a precious and rare commodity, these women found a witty way to address an unusual situation while putting a beam on peoples’ faces.
© Colleen Mullins
© Colleen Mullins
Sunburned GSP#839 (Every 30 minutes, Arctic Circle, Alaska), 2015 © Colleen Mullins
Moonburned TP#34 (As Needed, Western Addition, California), 2020 © Colleen Mullins
