Sometimes I imagine the slowest movie.
I attempt to reduce it to a single frame,
one that still renders movement and conversation. ejh
Biography
I'll dispense with the obligatory third person after saying, "Eric J Henderson shoots primarily in nighttime long exposures and exclusively with a 1950 Kodak Brownie Hawkeye found and bought for $5 off the street in Harlem, 2003 at 125th and Park Avenue, the site of the now defunct “junkie’s bazaar” – a spot where a few guys would gather and sell whatever they found on the street that day."
I had never shot anything before finding it as I was not a photographer and had no particular interest in photography.
It seemed that the Brownie camera would just make the coolest of art deco paperweight. It sort of took over my life after that. I like to travel the night for things that only pertain to the night. I also compose in multiple exposures, using the crosswalk figure, the “walking man,” as my protagonist. The intensely manual nature of the camera, no automated settings, allows it to become whatever I am and a natural extension. This feature, long exposure, is the particular technique I like to explore most deeply as a method that we never fully explored in a popular sense."
I am grateful to have been shown in solo exhibition/residency at The Forsyth Center Galleries (Texas A&M University), Maison Rouge (Chicago) and at The Studio Museum in Harlem (SMH), among other venues. Commissioned works have appeared in the SMH magazine, Studio. Media coverage has included National Public Radio (WNYC- New York), El Diario La Prensa and The Dallas Morning news as well a a note in The New Yorker magazine for “standout” works. I enjoy further commissioned work as a teaching artist with a focus on social improvement, having worked with The World Bank, Starbucks, OneWorld Now! and Amideast, among other entities.
The Idea
I use the Brownie camera exclusively, but not for nostalgia. It’s an honest and current tool whose heritage is of import to me. I mean, I am moved by the design and the art deco 1950 character it has, but I'm intrigued more by the idea of technology often advancing not because we've exhausted it, but rather because we simply want something new. When we want new things for the sake of what’s new, we must, by definition, leave behind some undiscovered utility. I imagine that when we abandon heritage on the basis of a narrow affinity for technology that we also abandon myriad futures that may be of use to us.
I want to find what's lies in the infinity between the parameters of this supposedly outdated technology. I'm reminded of the conundrum of a number line: You can get from "1" to "2," but only practically, not mathematically. This exploration of infinity is fuel for me and for us, producing not only photos, but also ways of thinking, ways of doing.
Writing is also a necessity and pleasure for me with frequent contributions to Advertising Age (adage.com) and other publications, writing on subjects including: advertising, marketing, art, culture and creativity, all in the context of social action and observation. My photography is a launching pad for this work through exploration of the thoughts that drive the images.
I thank you for reading this.
The Driver
Sometimes I imagine the slowest movie, attempting to reduce a series of images to a single frame that still evidences a sort of elegant movement or conversation.