Portrait of the artist
ages 5, 16, 23, 50.
An exhibiting photographer for 25
years, Rick Doble decided to rework the
classic photographs of Eadweard Muybridge
from the "Human and Animal Locomotion"
series (1887). Doble wanted to create
images that were at the same time
photographic, painterly and computerized;
formal and unposed; 100 years old and
modern.
The "Woman in Motion" exhibit is both
a departure and a consolidation of Doble's
skills. It combines his experience with
historic photographs as Director of the
Durham Historic Photographic Archives
Project along with years of computer
programing and a life long interest in
painting.
Writing half of the software himself
for this show, Doble wanted to become
intimately involved in all aspects of
creating computer imagery rather than
simply using commercial software.
Pictures from the "Woman in Motion"
series have been reproduced in color in
Sanskrit, a magazine published by UNC-
Charlotte, and were considered in the final
selection for the Competition for North
American Artists by the Museum of Modern
Art of Miami.
A North Carolina citizen for over 30
years, Rick Doble received a Masters Degree
in Communications from the Dept. of Radio,
TV, and Motion Pictures at UNC-Chapel Hill
in 1975.
As a photographer for over 20 years, I
decided in 1988 to explore the computer's
ability to work with photographic images. I
wrote five major computer programs to aid
me in digitizing pictures, and used these
along with several commercial programs to
transfer an image from a video camera,
alter any of its 50,000 points (pixels),
and then print it out in color. This was
done on inexpensive equipment which
produced a rough dot pattern that I liked
for its painting-like quality.
Once I had accomplished this, I turned
to the work of Eadweard Muybridge. Being
over a hundred years old, it was no longer
under copyright. His studies of human
motion changed forever the way artists
looked at the human body, and were
instrumental in the development of modern
painting and motion pictures. They showed
the continuous movement of a figure
simultaneously from several angles, each
frame frozen in a split second, not
artificially posed.
My goal was to redraw his figures with
an artistic eye, through careful selection
and close cropping, as well as the addition
of color, background, abstraction, and
mood. I wanted to create a new work, in
much the same way as a musician creates a
novel rendering of an older melody, or a
classical composer orchestrates a piano
piece by a predecessor.
From thousands of shots I selected the
few you see in this exhibit. The computer
translated my video close-ups into 16
shades of gray. I then assigned each shade
1 of 64 colors. Over several months I
developed approx. 50 complete sets of 16
colors (palettes) which I tried out on new
pictures and modified. In addition I
usually eliminated the lined background
Muybridge had set up for reference, and
sometimes added my own patterns.
Occasionally I used computer techniques
to abstract the figure. Each image took
about four hours to complete.
These were then printed on an ink jet
printer, using two different commercial
printer drivers. I did this so I would have
two hardcopy translations of the monitor
image to choose from. I also replaced a
chip in the printer to get richer colors.
The final step was to make color laser
copies, which both enlarged and intensified
the picture. I made each one myself,
modifying the color settings on the copier
as needed.
Portrait of the artist
ages 5, 16, 23, 50.
MUYBRIDGE EXHIBIT DATES
------------------------------------------------------
GREENVILE MUSEUM OF ART EXHIBIT 1995
Exhibit dates (North Gallery):
Sept 8, 1995 - Oct. 29, 1995
2 PICTURES PUBLISHED - SANSKRIT MAGAZINE 1994
Printed in color, one to a page,
April, 1994,
publication of UNC-Charlotte
FINALIST - 1994
COMPETITION FOR NOTH AMERICAN ARTISTS
Sponsored by the
Museum of Modern Art of Miami
ONE MAN SHOW: WOMAN IN MOTION 1993
30 enlarged color computer images based on
the photographs of Eadweard Muybridge:
Cambron Black Gallery, Beaufort, NC
FEATURE ARTICLE 1993
Carteret News-Times, Morehead City-Beaufort
"Artist to bring 113-year-old work
'back to the future'"
HONORABLE MENTION 1993
Carteret County Arts Council: Juried Show
PORTFOLIO PRESENTED 1992
Society for Photographic Education,
Southern Chapter, Annual Convention
EXHIBIT 1992
Carteret Community College,
15 color computer printouts
MUYBRIDGE EXHIBIT BACKGROUND DATES
------------------------------------------------------
IN PROGRESS SINCE 1988 1988-1993
Five major programs written
in basic & assembly
to aid in digitizing
Muybridge photographs
11 YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH COMPUTERS 1983-1993
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITS & PURCHASES DATES
------------------------------------------------------
SIX ONE MAN SHOWS OF NEW WORK 1972-1991
DIRECTOR OF EXHIBIT OF
HISTORIC DURHAM PHOTOGRAPHY 1979
BEST IN SHOW, BEST LANDSCAPE, 1975
2ND PLACE PORTRAIT
DURHAM ARTS COUNCIL
EXHIBITED PHOTOGRAPHS PURCHASED 1975-1984
Duke Hospital, First Union Bank,
Regional Coordinator - NEA
PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLICATIONS DATES
------------------------------------------------------
FOUR BOOK COVERS - CAROLINA WREN PRESS 1982-1987
ALBUM COVER - RED CLAY RAMBLERS 1982
MAGAZINE COVER - SOUTHERN EXPOSURE 1977
EDITOR - PHOTOGRAPHY COLUMN,
THE GUIDE TO THE TRIANGLE 1975-1983
PHOTOGRAPHY REVIEWER - NC ANVIL 1970-1973
PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE DATES
------------------------------------------------------
FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER 1975-1987
Created & taught four different
classes in photography.
Photography clients included:
The Duke Alumni Magazine,
The Durham Chamber of Commerce,
Central Carolina Bank
TAUGHT OVER TWELVE DIFFERENT WORKSHOPS 1975-1987
Including workshops at: Duke, DTI, NCCU
DIRECTOR:
DURHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE PROJECT 1978-1981
Project to preserve Durham's past
in photographs.
Archive now housed in the
Durham County Library.
DIRECTOR: DURHAM RESTORATION OR RENEWAL 1977
Traveling slide-tape show of
Durham architecture
both lost and threatened.
EDUCATION DATES
------------------------------------------------------
M.A.C., DEPT. OF RADIO, TV,
& MOTION PICTURES - 1975
UNC-CHAPEL HILL
B.A., ENGLISH - UNC-CHAPEL HILL,
HONORS IN WRITING 1966