Party People (Scenes)

all photos by ryan burke

Our school recently had the wonderful opportunity to host the works of Barry Moser, engraver. Moser now teaches in Massachusetts and is a successful artist. His work is on display at many galleries including the Metropolitan Museam of Art, the National Gallery, and other national galleries in Europe and Australia.


Mr. Barry Moser


Moser gave an interesting workshop/lecture before the reception where he explained the process of engraving. I've never really been a fan of this particular medium but his lecture was quite inspiring. Moser is truly a master of the medium and his works are beyond amazing. I have a hard time even drawing negative forms so to meet someone who could conceptualize and engrave a piece only made up of negative forms is awe-inspiring. His pieces (both reliefs and watercolors) now range in price from $100-$7,500. I asked him about pricing and this is what he told me: "I was comissioned by a dentist once to paint a golf hole. When I told him the price, he had to take a minute to adjust to the idea of it. He thought it was too expensive. Well, I'd like to know how he thinks he can charge more for a root canal which he can do in one day whereas my work could take a month."

Following the workshop were two receptions. The first reception was the president's reception and (mostly) the point of this post. I have picked out a few of the pictures i took of the reception to upload. The reason I am showing these is because I feel that they contrast from most of my other work and they are interesting to look at because they are voyeuristic scenes from a semi-formal party. As such, there is a lot of life involved in them despite the shmoozing and fake friendliness.



I love pictures like this one where there is more than one thing happening. There is a conversation on the right and a woman standing alone on the left. The woman on the left was warming herself at the fireplace. She was my favorite at the party. At one point she approached me with one of the hors d'oeuvres and asked "I'm sure you have a well-refined palette, can you tell me if there is chipotle in this?" I am pretty sure she was at least a little bit tipsy off the free wine.





The pictures above and below show one of my other favorite types of shots: five people in a line, all looking in different directions. I love it because your eyes can just move back and forth all over the picture through all the leading lines.