A Teacher With A Knack For Photographic Images

By Shannon Hicks

Newtown resident Susanne Knaak will have her recent photography work featured in a solo exhibition at McLaughlin Vineyards in Sandy Hook for three weeks in August. A selection of nearly two dozen photo and emulsion transfers and hand colored black-and-white images will be presented beginning on August 5 at the Alberts Hill Road winery.

An opening reception will be hosted by the vineyard and the artist on Sunday, August 6, from 1 to 4 pm, to which the public is invited free of charge. The exhibition will then remain on view, open daily from 11 am to 5 pm, through August 27.

Having moved to Newtown last November, Sue Knaak did not waste much time putting together a collection of works for her new show. Sue has had shows at the former Jitters Coffee House in Brookfield, about five years ago; and at Gregory James Gallery and Bank Street Coffee House, both in New Milford, two years ago. She has been doing image and emulsion transfers and hand coloring for about six years.

“I like to purposely put time between solo shows and even smaller group shows so that I have new work to show off,” she explained recently.

Sue works almost exclusively with Gregory James Gallery in designing the frames and mattes for her work because gallery owner Greg Mullen, she says, “knows the matte can really enhance, or it can detract from, your work and the frame is a big part of how you show your artwork. I believe both of those ideas completely.”

She is also a full-time art teacher at New Milford High School, so finding time to work on her own work, while also offering classes on her three specialties at Connecticut Photographic Workshop in New Milford, makes putting together enough work for a new solo quite an effort.

Additionally, she is working on an externship with John Kane, the owner of Silver Sun Studios in New Milford, where she is learning about the business end of the photography field. Once her work with Mr Kane is completed, she will share her information with students and faculty at New Milford High School.

All of this, while continuing to work on the photos for her upcoming exhibition. From the examples she recently shared during a visit to The Bee offices, though, the public is in for a great treat when Sue Knaak’s exhibition opens next weekend.

“I’m excited, of course, but it does take a lot of time to prepare,” Sue recently said. “I’ve been working almost constantly since school finished this year, evenings and weekends. But I have to admit, I’m enjoying it.”

The McLaughlin Vineyards show will offer photos from three collections Sue has been working on. The first collection chronicles visits to Europe, with special emphasis on the architecture of Italy and Greece; the second drew inspiration from coastal villages, the sea, and pastoral scenes of rural New England and the Caribbean; and the third focuses on the street life and architecture of New York City. The images will be available for purchase.

Since its beginnings in the early 1970s, the image transfer process has been experimented with on a technical level. But because it was not until the 1990s that Polaroid® transfers emerged as an art form, many people are still unfamiliar with the gorgeous images that can be achieved through this multi-step process.

The process, explained Sue, begins with a slide which is printed in Polaroid® film and then set on various surfaces, including watercolor papers and silk. Images can then be enhanced with acrylic paintings, colored pencils, inks, pastels, watercolors – whatever the artist chooses, really – to create one-of-a-kind variations of the original image. Sue has even used gold leaf on watercolor paper for some of her works, including one example matted on velvet, which resulted in a very rich finish.

Emulsion transfers are achieved by taking an image from Polaroid® film and placing it on any of a variety of surfaces: glass, stone, papyrus, or watercolor paper. The thin top later of a Polaroid® print is boiled off and then manipulated by wrinkling, stretching, or tearing the image. The resulting photograph, says Sue, has a surreal quality with colors brighter than those produced by the image transfer process.

“Photo transfers give your pictures, even if they were just shot yesterday, more of an antique look,” the photographer pointed out.

For hand coloring, infrared film is a great way to go, feels Sue. Infrared records the visible spectrum and also a wavelength of light beyond the visible area, called the infrared section. The most dramatic results are shown with this film, which Sue began using along with traditional 35 mm print film about two years ago.

With infrared film, darker areas of a frame can come out much lighter and better defined, if a photographer uses the sensitive film correctly. But Sue should be pretty well versed on the ins and outs of infrared film, having learned from no less of a master than Brookfield photographer Laurie Klein.

“It gives you more area [in which to color], but it can also be tricky to get used to,” said Sue. “When it works, though, I love that film. You get a very soft, almost dreamlike appearance.”

Sue has visited McLaughlin Vineyards a number of times, and has even taken a number of photos there for her various photographic applications.

“I think it’s a very special place to visit,” said the photographer, who lives almost within walking distance of the Sandy Hook landmark. “It’s a beautiful location and a nice place for an art show.”

Susanne Knaak can be reached by calling 364-1664 or by sending e-mail to SKPhoto21@hotmail.com.