Everyone's Backyard
Jeff Edwards
April 18 - May 23, 2015
Opening reception: Saturday, April 18 from 6-9pm at Fifth Floor Gallery
April 18 - May 23, 2015
Opening reception: Saturday, April 18 from 6-9pm at Fifth Floor Gallery
Fifth Floor Gallery is pleased to present, Everyone's Backyard, photographs of swimming holes by Los Angeles based artist Jeff Edwards. All the locations photographed are within Los Angeles County or just a few hours drive from the city and represent the unearthed gems found in the backyard of our metropolis. The documentation began in 2006 when Edwards rigorously started exploring swimming holes in the Los Angeles area, and ever since he has hiked to, jumped, and photographed every single swimming hole in Southern California.
The photographs serve to make the viewer conscious of the complex nature of time and perception. An individual in a photo exists in human time while the landscape exists in geological time, yet human senses such as vision, exist in macro time. The intersection of these three time scales are captured in the instant of a single frozen moment of the shutter. Like landscape paintings of the Romantic era these photos put nature as the focus and humans, small or blurred, are the temporary occupants. While it is hard for humans to grasp the vastness of the geologic time scale, the ebb and flow of water in these places brings this into closer perspective as each swimming hole changes from season to season, year to year, and may not be around much longer.
Jeff Edwards earned his BFA from Otis College of Art & Design in 2006. His photos have appeared in online and printed publications and he has also been featured in broadcast media highlighting the sport of cliff jumping. This is his first solo gallery exhibition.