Jane Olin

Jane Olin has received many honors and awards, including induction into the National Association of Women Artists at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2008. Her pieces are intuitive photographs of women and nature that are expressive and subtly shaded.

Her photographs have been consistently exhibited throughout the United Sates and Europe. Her work has been featured in numerous photography and fine-art galleries, museums and universities, and resides in private and public collections. Along with a surrealistic reliance on chance, Olin’s artistic process creates work that seems to have hidden, possibly alchemical meanings.




STATEMENT:

I’m a film and darkroom artist. However, if my work demands a hybrid (darkroom/digital) solution as in my current project, Site/Sight Unseen, I embrace it.

My daily intention of trusting my intuition, while practicing present moment awareness, helps sustain and nurture a style that is unique to me. Experimenting and pushing photographic boundaries, both in the darkroom and while making images, are crucial to my work. I use all at my disposal in my darkroom - unique toning, creative use of farmer’s reducer, over or under exposing print/negative, the use of soft focus, and the use of photographic chemicals in unique ways - never fearing to break rules. I embrace creative accidents, like the one that led to my current series, Site/Sight Unseen, and feel liberated when abandoning the path dictated by darkroom procedure.

I persevere until I’ve created the image my intuition demands. To imbue a flat, two-dimensional photographic surface with the energy of spirit, my own and that of the thing I’m photographing, is my goal.


BACKSTORY:

More than twenty-five years ago, my life erupted urging me to take a step back, slow down and finally acknowledge an unease that beckoned in quiet moments and in night dreams. Life can be magical when answers emerge to bare-boned questions bubbling just beneath one’s awareness. I recall, as if it were yesterday, discussing with my talented college-age son that he could be a very successful artist. A palpable silence enveloped us only to be interrupted when he confessed that he had other plans for his life. At that moment, a wave of energy flooded my body and awakened me to the realization that it was I who wanted to be an artist! With that sweet transient moment, my life changed forever.

Very early in my career, Ruth Bernhard, a mentor and instructor, said that I have my thumb print on my work – that I have a signature style that is recognizable in all of my work even though each series is different and often experimental. My daily intention of trusting my intuition, while practicing present moment awareness, helps sustain and nurture a style that is unique to me.

I was fortunate to live most of my childhood in a small, tranquil village (Steilacoom, Washington) overlooking the cool waters of Puget Sound. Childhood was an adventure of discovery and creating. I loved drawing, coloring and daydreaming. I spent hours gazing at cloud formations making up stories about what I saw. Making doll clothes out of scraps of clothe was an ongoing joy and challenge.

Quiet Sound Series is a meditation on that period of my life. I traveled to Steilacoom over several years beginning in 2000. Photographing with my Leonardo pinhole camera, I captured images that ultimately became Quiet Sound.

During the years before launching my art career, I raised two children, started a Company, Sierra Instruments, Inc. with my husband, John and worked full-time as V.P. of Marketing for our Company.

In 2010, I was selected as one of four panelists at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA, discussing Women In Photography. Women’s issues have been of interest to me since the seventies. My second body of work, “Greta, A Woman’s Journey of Self Discovery” amplifies on this theme and was shown as part of this event. The work was created in the late nineties but is still relevant today.

My mentor, Ruth Bernhard, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, looked deeply into my eyes and said, “Keep photographing and working; don’t stop no matter what.” Words I live by.


RESUME:

SELECTED HONORS and AWARDS

• Best of Show For Foreign Artists, Third International Women’s Photography Festival Smolensk, Russia. 1994.
• Awards of Merit, California Works, Sacramento, CA, 1994 & 1995.
• First Place Award for Photography, KTEH Art International. 2001.
• Award of Excellence, Best of Photography Annual, Photographer’s Forum Magazine. 2002.
• Second Place Winner, Camera Club of New York, juror Joyce Tenneson, New York, NY, 2003.
• First Place Winner, Smithtown Township Art Council, juror Josephine Sacabo, Jamestown, NY, 2007.
• Honorable Mention, Camera Club of New York, juror Larry Fink, New York, NY, 2008.
• Second Place Winner, National Association of Women Artists, New York, NY, 2008.
• First Place Winner, Pen and Brush Gallery, juror Roy de Carava, New York, NY, 2008.
• Marion de Sola Mendez Memorial Award for Printmaking, N.A.W.A, New York, NY, 2009.
• Jurors Awards of Merit, International Fine Art Photography Competition: Grand Prix de la Decouverte,
Paris, France, 2012.
• Finalist, Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, London, England, 2012.
• Gold Medal Award, San Francisco International Photography Exhibition, San Francisco, CA, 2013.


SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Women In Photography International, Out of Focus On-Line Juried Exhibition, Juror, Cat Jimenez, Los Angeles, CA, 2013, Tag Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, “2012 California Open”; Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD; Pen & Brush Gallery, New York, NY; National Association of Women Artists, New York, NY; Camera Club of New York, NY; Smithtown Township Art Council, Jamestown, New York; Lisa Coscino Gallery, Pacific Grove, CA, (one person show), Galleria Tondinelli, Rome, Italy; California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA; Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA; Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD; France-Ameriques Association, Paris, France; Gallery 500, Elkin Park, PA; International Women’s Photography Festivals, Smolensk–1995 and Ryazan–1994, Russia; La Gallerie Internationale, Palo Alto, CA; Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA; Moscow Photo Center, Moscow, Russia; Museum of Los Gatos, Los Gatos, CA; Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA; Salon d’Automne 2000, 2001, 2003, Paris, France; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; Stepping Stone Photography Gallery, Huntington, NY


SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Best of Photography Annual 2002, Photographer’s Forum Magazine
• International Women Artists, Volume 2, 2001, Alliance of Women Artists
• Photography Quarterly, Spring 2001, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY
• Salon d’Automne, Exhibition Catalogues, 2000, 2001, 2003, Paris, France
• National Association of Women Artists, 120th Annual Exhibition Catalogue, New York, NY, 2009
• Center for Photographic Art, Fine Print Program, Carmel, CA, 2010
• Tag Gallery, 2012 California Open Exhibition Catalogue, Santa Monica, CA, 2012


FINE-ART PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Trustee, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA, 1998-2002
• Guest Curator, Making Strides…Creating Art, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA, 1999
• Alliance of Women Artists, San Francisco, CA, 2000-Present
• EAP Committee, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA, 2005-2008
• Women in Photography International, 2008-Present
• Image Makers, Monterey, CA, 2008-Present
• National Association of Women Artists, New York, NY, 2008-Present
• Center For Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, “Women In Photography” Panel. 2010
• Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, Advisory Council, 2009-2011
• The Pen & Brush, Inc., New York, NY, 2008-Present
• Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, Selected Artist for Fine Print Program, 2011


EDUCATION

University of Minnesota, B.A. Philosophy and History
Photography workshops with Master Photographers:
Ruth Bernhard, Joyce Tenneson, Martha Casanave, Dan Esterbrook, John Sexton, Brian Taylor, Holly Roberts, Elizabeth Opalenik, Christopher James

UPDATE - JULY 2015 - MARCH 2016

EXHIBITIONS

* Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, Olin + Opalenik: On the Edge of Chance, January 17 – February 27, 2016
* Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, Through the Lens of Four, July -September 2015
* Green Chalk Contemporary Gallery, Monterey, CA, Independent Presence, June – August 2015
* Green Chalk Contemporary Gallery, Monterey, CA, Best Bet! August 2015
* Pajaro Valley Arts Council, Watsonville, CA, Photo Alchemy, March-April 2015, Ted Orland and Tobin Keller jurors
* Art Intersection, Gilbert, AZ, Light Sensitive, March-April 2015, Robert Hirsch juror
* Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA. International Juried Exhibition, A Portfolio Competition,
January - February 2015, Douglas Marshall juror
* Online exhibition, New York Center for Photographic Art, Wandering Curves, 2015, Debra Klomp Ching juror
* Online exhibition, Women in Photography International, I AM Woman, I AM Digital, 2015

PUBLICATIONS

• Olin + Opalenik: On the Edge of Chance, Center for Photographic Art catalog,
Carmel, CA, 2016
Art by the Slice, Carmel Magazine, Summer/Fall, Carmel, CA, 2015
Independent Presence, Green Chalk Contemporary Gallery catalog, Monterey, CA, 2015
Wandering Curves, New York Center for Photographic Art catalog, 2015
2015 International Juried Exhibition, A Portfolio Competition, Center for Photographic Art catalog, Carmel, CA,
Diffusion: The Matter of Light, One Twelve Publishing, Portland, OR, 2014
2014 Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art catalog, Carmel, CA, 2014
Illumination: An Exhibition of Fine Art Photography, Agora Gallery catalog, New York, NY, 2014


SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

Honorable Mention, New York Center for Photographic Art International Competition, New York, NY, 2015, Debra Klomp Ching, Klompching Gallery, juror
Honorable Mention, Diffusion: The Matter of Light, Portland, OR, 2014, Katherine Ware juror
Juror Award, Women In Photography International, Los Angeles, CA, 2013, Cat Jimenez juror


SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA
Women in Photography International Archive, Beinecke Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA


EXHIBITIONS + WRITTEN STATEMENTS

Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, Jane Olin + Elizabeth Opalenik: On the Edge of Chance, January – February 2016

Jane Olin and Elizabeth Opalenik, whose work comprises the exhibition On the Edge of Chance, share the philosophy of a long line of photographic innovators. From its beginnings, practitioners have recognized the medium’s potential for innovation, and conceived of a variety of surrealistic manipulations and compositional experiments. Man Ray’s rayographs, André Kertész’s distortions, Lucas Samaras’s Polaroid manipulations, and even David Hockney’s composites are just a tiny sampling of the range of creative possibilities in photography. Olin and Opalenik are also explorers, gravitating to the boundaries of the familiar, each following a singular path. Both have grown to embrace the gifts that chance provides, and to make intuition an ally of their practice.

Although she began studying with West Coast “straight” photographers over thirty years ago, Jane Olin took off quickly on her own path. The photographic prerequisite of documenting the environment never inspired her very much. Instead she was interested in depicting what lies beneath the surface of things and seeking a way towards making the invisible visible. She found inspiration in the words of artist Paul Klee: “Are we merely noting things seen in order to remember them or are we trying to reveal what is not visible? Once we know and feel this distinction, we have come to the fundamental point of artistic creation.”

Olin’s current groundbreaking series Site/Sight Unseen originated with a trip to Havana, Cuba, where she photographed a patch of intertwined sticks falling against a wall. While working on the negatives in her darkroom, one unfixed print was inadvertently forgotten, and lingered in the developer all day. This accident gave the chemicals time to act on the silver gelatin paper. As Olin says, “it upended my darkroom methodology. I switched from working with a preconceived idea to interacting with the print in process.” She has continued to work with the Havana negatives, and has developed an astonishing variety of images based on them. They range from intergalactic apparitions, to fire or storms of submerged cloud, wind, or water in subtle tonalities of pale gold, bronze, iron and silver. Despite their diversity, these otherworldly images remain bound together by the intertwined sticks that mark each one. In some examples they are merely shadow, in others they are strong and anchoring, but taken together they are like a mantra, infusing the series with the spirit of place and maker. A practitioner of mindfulness meditation, Olin feels that each print is an example of present moment awareness. She must focus on the chemical changes as they occur, and in working with a process that she barely controls, she is always responding to whatever chance offers.

Jane Olin’s daring photographic inventions capture barely controlled chemical interactions in exquisite variation. Both photographers create at the edge of the possible, working in what photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson calls “the decisive moment.” They have each formed an alliance with the forces of chance and have eagerly embraced what they found.

—Helaine Glick, Curator

Green Chalk Contemporary Gallery, Monterey, CA, Independent Presence,
June - August, 2015


Statement

Independent Presence, an exhibition by five artists, expresses each artist’s relationship with her inner world, the natural world, and photographic history. Mystery, nature, and narrative themes wind their way through the work of these accomplished women artists. The ideas presented are evidence of not only self-reflection, but also adventurous intuitive explorations.

The artists of Independent Presence bring us an exhibit from a place known for its photographic roots, where knowledge and technique have been passed hand-to-hand for decades. Living and working in Monterey, one feels the presence of West Coast Photography legends such as Imogen Cunningham and Ruth Bernhard. Cunningham once said, “anybody is influenced by where and how he lives.” Yet these five women artists have evolved beyond their photographic roots, in particular the rigidity of the f64 photography manifesto, while embracing the mystic philosophy of the movement.

The artists share a dedication to unique and expressive photographic processes. Their courage with their processes and their belief in its power to transcend the subject matter is what bonds them in their regular Salon Jane meetings. The group holds that their true work is made when an idea or subject bodily resonates with the artist. Those strong feelings compel energy in expression.

The art in this exhibition is grounded in the history of photography: from pinhole cameras and darkroom alchemy to digital composites. The artists all explore their craft and subjects with curiosity and depth, yet the work goes beyond this medium. Instead, the art brings the power of presence to restless enigmatic scenes, creating images which are loose enough to be interpreted without literal meaning.

Robin Robinson, Artist + Writer


UPDATE - MARCH 2016 - APRIL 2017

JANE OLIN: ON THE EDGE OF CHANCE
Site/Sight Unseen - new work
Intimate Conversation (Tree Project). Catalog (41 pages).
Published to coincide with the exhibition at Viewpoint Gallery in Sacramento, June 2017

“If one really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough.  One has to transcend technique so that art becomes an ‘artless art’ growing out of the unconscious.”
D.T. Suzuki

Jane Olin shares the philosophy of a long line of photographic innovators. From the start, practitioners have recognized the medium’s potential, and conceived of a variety of surrealistic manipulations and compositional experiments. Man Ray’s rayographs, André Kertész’s distortions, Lucas Samaras’s Polaroid manipulations, and even David Hockney’s composites are just a tiny sampling of the range of creative possibilities in photography. Like them, Olin is also an explorer, gravitating to the boundaries of the unfamiliar. She has chosen to embrace the gifts that chance provides, and to make intuition an ally of her practice.

Although Olin began working with West Coast straight photographers over twenty-five years ago, she quickly took off on her own path. The traditional photography prerequisite of documenting the natural environment never inspired her very much. Instead she wanted to depict what lies beneath the surface of things, and she was unafraid to break photographic rules in order to do so. Olin experimented from the start, with simple pinhole cameras and with focus and exposure in the darkroom. She found that using unconventional adjustments could influence perception and capture the subtle mystery she was looking for. This approach is reflected in Olin’s deep appreciation of Japanese aesthetics, particularly the concept of Yugen. Arising from Zen Buddhism, its definition is elusive, but refers to the profound subtlety or mystery within or beneath the surface of things. It also indicates a “paring down to the essence of a thing,” and suggests a delicate harmony or quality of beauty that lies beneath the surface. As she continued to work, Olin’s personal aesthetic developed along these lines, and found true expression in her groundbreaking series, Site/Sight Unseen.

Site/Sight Unseen originated with a trip to Havana, Cuba, where Olin photographed a patch of intertwined sticks falling against a wall. While working on the negatives in her darkroom, one unfixed print was inadvertently forgotten, and lingered in the darkroom sink all day. This incident gave the chemicals time to act on the silver gelatin paper. When she rediscovered the print, its unexpected beauty startled her. As she says, “it upended my darkroom methodology. I switched from working with a preconceived idea to interacting with the print in process.” Olin continued to work with the Havana negatives, developing an astonishing variety of images based on them. Ranging from intergalactic apparitions, to fire, or storms of submerged cloud, or trails of wind, or water, they radiate subtle tonalities of pale gold, bronze, iron and silver. Despite their diversity, these otherworldly images remain bound together by the intertwined sticks that mark each one. In some instances they are merely shadow, in others they are clear and anchoring, but taken together they act like a mantra that infuses the series with the spirit of place and maker. A practitioner of mindfulness meditation, Olin feels that each print is an expression of present moment awareness.

Working this way led Olin to consider how she might expand on its potential, and what came to her mind were trees. As a child, she and her sister spent hours playing in the forest just outside their door. Being surrounded by trees gave her a sense of comfort and peace, and she has imagined them as protective friends ever since. Olin has always photographed trees, but never felt satisfied that she had captured what she sought. But in adopting the process developed for the Havana photographs, she found the right voice. The series title, Intimate Conversation, suggests her deep connection to the subject. Yet these images also convey a vaguely ominous undertone, in recognition that one can no longer think of trees without an awareness of the threats they face. Changing climate means potential weakening from the stress of higher temperatures, or the struggle of navigating to cooler elevations through seed dispersal, leaving many species’ future in doubt. Olin freely acknowledges that this perspective is active in her work, in the same way that the shock of a clear-cut forest she saw as a child has never left her. But although there are uneasy undercurrents in her images, there is also sparkle and light. Shadowy elements meet others that gleam, and luminous auras emerge from the dark to collaborate and contend, lending her trees a dynamic energy that reveals their grandeur. Like a poem, Dark Moon Midnight or The Stars Align reorganizes our perceptions to reveal the familiar in a startling new way. These trees arise from the ordinary world and take their place in an extraordinary one.

Jane Olin’s daring photographic inventions capture barely controlled chemical interactions in astonishing variations. She composes her images over long hours and, in a kind of alchemical transformation, brings them to fruition through a succession of moment-by-moment choices. Attending to and building upon each change as it occurs, she develops the striking forms and tonalities of her prints. Working at the edge of the possible, she reinterprets Henri Cartier-Bresson’s iconic photographic approach of “the decisive moment” to her work in the darkroom. In embracing an alliance of accident, skillful focus, and intuition, she has liberated her process and brought forth an innovative and deeply engrossing body of work.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

• Viewpoint Gallery, Sacramento, CA, On the Edge of Chance, June-July 2017
• Awakening, Invitational Exhibition, Carmel, CA, February 2017
• Art Intersection, Gilbert, AZ, Independent Presence Invitational Exhibition, January- February 2017
• Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, October 2016 International Juried Exhibition, Linde B. Lehtinen juror
• Sand City Art Committee Juried Competition, Sand City, CA, August-September 2016, Gail Enns juror
• West End Celebration, Sand City, CA, Independent Presence Invitational Exhibition, August 2016
• A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX, Pinhole, July-August 2016, Amanda Smith juror
• National Association of Women Artists, Pittsburgh, PA, In-Visible, March-May 2016, John Carson juror

VIDEOS

• Pushing the Wet Darkroom: with Steve Zmak, featuring photographers Martha Casanave, Jane Olin and Robin V. Robinson, 2016
• Independent Presence, West End Kick off Exhibition: narrated by Charlotte Chapman, with photographers Jane Olin, Robin V. Robinson and Robin Ward, 2016

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

2017 Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, AZ, Speaking Engagement: Independent Presence
2017 Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA, Speaking Engagement: My Evolution as an Artist
2015 Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, Speaking Engagement: On the Edge of Chance
2014 Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA, Speaking Engagement: Director’s Dialogue Conversation with Jane Olin, Martha Casanave, Robin Ward, Susan Hyde Greene

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

• Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA ADDITION FROM 2014 AND 2015

Women In Photography International Charter Member

Jane Olin
Carmel Valley, CA
WIPI PhotoProfile
jane@janeolin.com
www.janeolin.com


©Copyright for all images remains the property of exhibited photographer, and promotional use for Women In Photography International. All inquiries regarding use of and purchasing image use rights must be directed to the photographer.

File: GALLERY & BIO complete August 30, 2014
j-8/30
File Update: 4/26 five 6x6" photo booklets
UPDATE: Photographer response - MARCH 2016 - APRIL 2017


UPDATE FINAL: May 2017 website content 1999-2017
womeninphotography.org file transfer to the Beinecke.
All organization files, computer, external hard drive, printed materials, photographs,
DVDs, books, competitions files and onsite installation art work