Christine Garceau

Artist Statement

Photography has always allowed me to experience the world on multiple levels. At an early age the camera became an extension of my creative need to share my ideas with others. Later on, the culture of photography became my identity and the images I generated began to mark the memory of my progression as a photographer, fine artist, and traveler of the world. I consider my photographs to be cultural artifacts as they simultaneously reference and signify the journey I have taken and the evidence I will leave behind when I am gone.

The images in this portfolio offer a preview of the multiple ways I use photography to communicate my vision of the world with others. The black and white images from the Black Portfolio provide a glimpse into my curiosity about the cultural formation of human identity. Experienced close up, they also give evidence to my developed experience and understanding of lighting ratios, film density, and traditional black and white printing techniques. Similarly, some of the color images in this portfolio enhance and convey to others my memory of the places and people I encounter as I travel the world using digital imaging technologies. My work embraces traditional film practice and digital technologies on multiple levels as a way to communicate with the many audiences I negotiate as a visual artist.

Recently I began a new photography research project titled Food for Life. The project springs from a personal passion to understand how food contributes to our cultural, political, and economic identities. Starting in the summer of 2010 I began photographing several community gardens in the Marquette area. One of the gardeners working the plots turned 93 while the youngest members of group often rode on the backs of their mother’s stooped in the process of weeding. During the winter months, friends, family members, and even strangers I have met at the local food co-op have come to my studio with the ‘one’ food they could not live without. In the spring of 2011 I traveled to Austria and Germany where I photographic individuals laboring in their kitchens and in their communities intent on  preserving food traditions typical of their cultural heritage.

In February of 2012 I will begin the next phase of my visual research as I join the Decolonizing Diet Project at the Center for Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University. Over the course of one year, I will document with still and moving images members of local tribes as they transform their lives by consuming only the foods found in the Midwest prior to the arrival of Europeans.

Many of the digital still and moving images I am capturing for these projects are informed by documentary photography and testimonio narratives (an interdisciplinary academic discipline that mixes history and literature),   infused with methods of qualitative and scientific research.  On its basic level this project seeks to explore our human connection to the land we inhabit and to the human communities we build upon it. I look forward to the process of transformation this new journey will bring.

Teaching Interests and Philosophy

My philosophy of teaching evolved from many years of engagement with photography students in diverse academic and community based teaching and learning experiences. Regardless of the technology used to generate photographs, I believe that it is my responsibility as a facilitator to engage, challenge and inspire the students in my classrooms to become knowledgeable members in the culture of photographic practice and production. It is my hope that every student will gain the confidence and technical skills necessary to sustain successes in their academic courses as well as their professional careers before they leave my classroom.

Inspiration: My first goal as a teacher and mentor is to inspire young photographers to stretch their technical and conceptual skills through the process of visual exploration and theoretical problem solving. To help demystify the world of lens culture for students of photography, I have developed a series of guided assignments that ask students to focus on inquiry and discovery while they are learning to use the cameras, calculate ratios in the lighting studio, or learning traditional and alternative print processing techniques in the darkroom and on a computer.  Since no one experiences a person or a place in the same way, I challenge students to use their cameras in tandem with the available and or artificial light available to help render their unique visional compositions. I want students to feel entitled to inspire me and their peers with their photographic designs while being mindful of the rigor required for a successful outcome.

Cultural diversity, group and individual learning styles: I believe that learning the techniques and practices of photography should be fun, and students who are active participants throughout the course of the semester learn skills and concepts more successfully than passive non-participants. Understanding the learning styles of the individuals in the class or group helps me facilitate effective strategies that engage everyone in the learning process. Students are also required to meet with me individually throughout the semester. This helps them take responsibility for their engagement in the classroom and foster a desire to complete their assignments on time.