Altpick.com Artist Spotlight: J.W. Fry

[ June 3, 2002 ] Growing up in East Texas, J.W. Fry says he always knew he wanted to be a photographer. After attending East Texas State University, he moved to Dallas, and then New York to begin the arduous task of building up a storehouse of corporate clients. He later relocated to San Francisco, where he began a new technique that has become his signature. Altpick.com asked J.W. about his work:

How old were you when you started shooting?
I remember when i was 16, my dad bought me my first 35 mm camera for my birthday. Within the first couple of months, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be a photographer. Within six months, I had a second body and several more lenses. And then the next year I talked him into buying me a darkroom. ... I had a little sister, and she was my model. It must have been hours of boredom for her, but I was really excited to practice my new craft.

You then worked for your high school newspaper and yearbook. How did college change your perspective?
One of the instructors I had had a fine art background. He encouraged me to be more creative with the work, to make the work more personal -- but to do this within an applied venue like advertising. I guess one of the things that always scared me about calling myself an artist rather than a photographer, I guess when you say artist, 'starving' always goes along with it. I couldn't afford to do that. I had to pay rent and eat.

You spent about four years in New York before you moved to San Francisco. There, you made your first photographic weavings. How did that happen?
I had seen some weavings at a gallery. They were illustrations. I thought it was very interesting, and i wanted try it with photographs. Just the way the image was deconstructed and you have all these little squares, I thought it would be a good way to put two images together ... like a collage. So much of advertising is really about the idea, not the actual product itself. The look of the telephone is not important to you, it's how it's going to make you feel.

What did your corporate clients think of your weaving?
There were some that were immediately interested. The Wiser Oil Company wanted to show some different groups in the company. But they also wanted to show some object that would relate to the group's job function. One of these groups was responsible for exploration. So for them we used a shot of the tip of an oil rig -- I shot a detail of those. And the other image was three or four people from that department.

And you weave those two images into one piece. How do you do it? Do you use the computer to manipulate your images at all?
There are some tricks. Basically, I shoot film -- mostly four by five. I scan it, sometimes I do extensive work on the computer, sometimes it's just minimal image correction, sometimes it's dropping in little bits from the other piece.Then I make large prints, cut them into vertical and horizontal strips. And then weave them back together to show enough of each image so that each is recognizable. Then I re-photograph that image on a white background with a drop shadow.

You say tricks. Do you think you're "tricking" the viewer?
They eye is very easy to deceive. A lot of times seeing is believing, but you can't always believe what you see. Magic is -- is not magic, it's tricking the brain and using the eyes to do it. You know how your mind wants to connect the dots and make things make sense? It will do that with images. It will make them make sense, even when they might not.

*** Since becoming a member of altpick.com, J.W. Fry has acquired editorial clients, in addition to his corporate work. His weaves recently have appeared in US News and World Report and Yahoo! Internet Life. ***

- Contributed by Kelly McEvers

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