A film by Jason Smith and Barry Phipps. 2020. The Exuberance Phase is a book of 8x10 photographs printed and bound by Barry Phipps. Published in the U.K. By Static Age Zines.
Statement from the book:
In 2019 I began shooting with a large format 8x10 view camera. At the same time, I was composing music on a modular synthesizer that I also knew nothing about. Both as a photographer and musician I found myself re-invigorated through working with old disciplines in new ways. I’ve made many attempts throughout my career to reinvent my work. In each instance I found that the early work in these ventures always resulted in work more interesting to me than what I made later as I understood the process more.
This is a collection of the color work I made in the first few months working in large format. I didn’t set out to make something meaningful; I just shot things important to me. As I put these images together, I came to see the connections and a conceptual construct formed. I found threads of similarities, some subtle, some blatant, that became clear as I sequenced these images into a cohesive narrative.
A second book of my monochrome work will eventually be released. The music component of modular synthesis compositions is available on all music streaming services, entitled The Exuberance Phase: Selected Modular Works.
This book was hand bound by myself and Giselle Simón, inspired by the sewn boards binding technique pioneered by our friend and colleague Gary Frost, with a soft cover variation developed by Hedi Kyle. Book layout and design by myself. Type set in Akzidenz-Grotesk.
Printed in Iowa City, IA by Tru Art Color Graphics. Shot on Kodak Portra 400 film at box speed. Film processing by Praus Productions of Rochester, NY. Scanned on an Epson V700 using Negative Lab Pro. The camera is a Calumet C1 with a Nikkor W 300 5.6 lens.
Thanks to Pete Falkous, Giselle Simón, Gary Frost, Johnny Brian, Doug Erb, Mark Lanning, Jr., Edgar Praus, Kathy Gaulke, V Fixmer-Oraiz, and The Johnson County Historic Poor Farm. The title page photo was taken by Jason Smith, who also produced a short film from one of my shoots on this project.
Barry Phipps • Iowa City, IA • February 2020
