The evocative exhibit at the Feldman Family Artspace, curated by Featherstone Center for the Arts at the M.V. Film Center, is on view through Nov. 3. Walking in, the images strike us as familiar, yet, as the title suggests, there is something just slightly otherworldly about them, created in part by the medium.
Kristen Park’s choice of shooting film rather than digitally imbues her images with a grainy, nearly painterly quality. She discovered her first film camera at 18 years old in a thrift store. After taking a course in color photography as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, she never looked back: “I like the slow process of it. You don’t have double-takes and redos. I like to take the shot and look back on it later. That is one of the things about photography. You will capture something, but never really see it exactly that way again except in the image.”
For Park, film’s imperfections mirror the way we remember things, “which is not in sharp detail, but in feelings, colors, and sensations that linger just out of reach.”
The photographs span the past year. Three are from her first trip here with friends, over Labor Day weekend in 2023.
One is “Under the Tree,” which is deceptively simple. The large, towering tree in the foreground, with the Ag Hall in the distance, throws an intricate pattern of dark shadows in stark contrast to the strong sunshine. But look carefully, and you will notice that far off are two young girls in animated conversation on the bleachers. Park says, “As a photographer, it’s interesting to take photos of people you don’t know. However, I like to keep people in my photos, but removed. I’m sharing my perspective, but I’m inviting viewers to share in these people’s perspective, and get them to think about what is going on in the picture and other people’s lives.”
By including anonymous people, Park draws us into her scenes, which allows her to achieve her aim of sharing stories.
It takes a moment to notice the story in “Dockside.” Park’s photograph of the Oak Bluffs ferry dock initially appears to be simply an abstract composition marked by the linear march of the railings that flow across the picture frame, and all but obscure the small figures on the pier in the distance.
Having jumped off “Jaws” Bridge herself, Park was amazed at the courage of the three girls urging one another to jump off the much higher pier.
In “Watering Hole,” in which a group of youth frolic in Brush Pond in the middle distance, there is a sense of timelessness, or even nostalgia. The lush vegetation in every shade of green imaginable is reminiscent of a late 19th century plein-air painting.
Although shot from far away, the joy of the young girl dancing in the dunes against a completely cloudless sky is immediately evident in Park’s large print, “In the Tall Grass.” Although it could be anyone, looking at this free spirit on the glorious September day makes our own hearts soar:
“I was at the beach, and thought it was a very sweet moment. I’m sure she was having a great time, which called to me. Her family was off to the side, and she didn’t really care, but was happy to run around in the field of grass.”
An expansive sky is evident in both “Liquid Glass No. 1” and “Liquid Glass No. 2.” True to their titles, the water is virtually smooth as glass, with only the barest of ripples visible. Park captures the purples, blues, and pink hues of the early morning as you wait for the ferry in the cold weather.
While no people populate the scenes, Park animates the compositions with the repetitive verticals of the boat masts that break the horizontal sweep of the horizon, uniting sea and sky.
When asked how she composes her work, Parks says, “Even though photos are supposed to be the most accurate capturing of real life, you can play with dimensions, shapes, and geometry, and make it very organized.”
“Summer Light” is another harbor scene, here with the Edgartown Lighthouse piercing the sunset skyline. “You have great sunsets here. This is a memorialization of all the sunsets that I’ve experienced,” she notes.
“Dreamscapes of Martha’s Vineyard” is Park’s gift from her first year experiencing the Island:
“Through these photographs, I aim to evoke the dreamlike quality of memories that grow softer and fonder with time — of days that feel both distant and ever-present … By sharing these images, I hope that viewers are able to reconnect with their memories of summers gone by, and remember the beauty of moments long passed but never truly gone.”
“Dreamscapes of Martha’s Vineyard” is on view at the Feldman Family Artspace in the M.V. Film Center through Nov. 3. Artist reception on Sunday, Oct. 20, from 1 to 3 pm.