A World in Black & White Juliet R. Harrison Photography
by Bethany Caskey
Growing up on Long Island made possible frequent visits with her parents into the museums and art galleries of New York for Juliet Harrison. Juliet does not draw, paint or sculpt and would never have considered herself an artist in those early years. She did, however, have exposure to those arts and always had a camera. She carefully trained her eye for the elements of texture, light, shape, shadow and line. She always saw herself as an academic person and did not think of herself as an artist until much later in her life. At the age of 31, she returned to school to complete a studio program from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and two years later received a Master’s Degree of Fine Art in Photography.
At age 40, Juliet began riding again. Of course, she brought her camera with her to photograph the horse events. It was natural to combine these two elements of her life. All horses interest her as subjects for her camera. Juliet will photograph any horse; from a fancy show horse to a backyard pet, discovering the unique art in each one. Her photos are not about any single horse as a portrait, but a visual, emotional icon.
Juliet lives in the Hudson Valley, about 100 miles north of New York City. She finds plenty of draft animals for subject matter within a 50-mile radius of her home. Local draft horse clubs hold spring plowing, horse pulls and other get-togethers and Juliet has always felt welcomed by the draft animal owners. She has always found a deep affinity for work animals and the people that use them. Juliet herself owns a Belgian Quarter Horse cross from Canada that she rides Dressage, Western and drives in a Meadowbrook cart.
Shooting only film and almost exclusively black-and white photographs, her camera is a 35 mm film camera that lately is sharing the workload with a Hasselblad medium format camera. Black-and-white images are Juliet’s artistic choice. She feels color images are “too easy” and the color too distracting to the basic elements of the image. Black and white makes the viewer more conscious of the composition and the range of tone. A successful image will connect somewhere to an emotional place in the viewer.
Juliet develops and prints her images in her darkroom. She says that 50% of her creation is in the camera and the other 50% is in the darkroom. Creative changes like cropping and contrast can be added in the darkroom, but she needs a good negative to begin or most changes in the darkroom will be unsuccessful. Her photos are not commercial images, but creative art. The prints are limited to editions of 15 on silver gelatin paper.
Focus on the draft animals grew from her desire to capture and honor our transition from our past agrarian cultures. Cultural distinctions are fading quickly in our modern world for both our society and our use of draft animals. The larger bodies and defined muscle structure of draft animals are suited for representing strength and power. In the history of human/horse iconography, the draft animal is a direct connection to our past.
Juliet’s fine art photos can be viewed at select galleries in New York, art and photography shows across the nation and on her website at: julietrharrisonphotography.com