When: Fri, 12/18; 6-9, Sat, 12/19; 11-5, Sun, 12/20; 11-5.
Where: Pajama Factory, 1307 Park Ave, Williamsport, PA 17701
Who: Miles Foreman (1996-2014), moved to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in 2010 with his family. He started taking photography classes from Ralph Wilson at the Williamsport Community Dark Room that same year. Miles experimented with multiple formats, including pinhole cameras, and varieties of black and white film. He attended Lewisburg Area High School, where he re-opened the dormant dark room.
Miles passed away as the result of a car accident in 2014. His parents, David and Winnie, are exhibiting a mere smattering of Miles’s work (they’ve discovered over 150,000 images thus far, culled from Miles’s computer, hard drives, and phones), at the Pajama Factory, where he spent so much time honing his craft.
Miles took photographs of everything. I imagine he was rarely without a device, be it a film or digital camera, or his smart phone, to record the world around him. He was curious. He seemed to explore everything with his lens, be it nature, his fellow skaters, or an incongruous object that others would overlook. His composition, especially of architectural elements, is thoughtful and beautiful. He segments these assemblages of brick, concrete, and metal, and picks them apart, creating abstract formal studies of light and shadow (reminded me a bit of Ralph Gibson, actually).
There is a sense of humor in his work, as well. Of the myriad images displayed, his project Wild Thing was probably my favorite. This selection of black and white photographs originally accompanied a poem of the same name. The mask Miles’s model wore was appropriated from his little brother Owen’s Halloween costume. The series was shot in a basement, in one session. Viewing these photographs one right after the other, your mind starts to play tricks with you. It does somersaults, and suddenly the series seems to move, like a stop motion animation or a film reel clip. The sense of movement is palpable, and playful.
The show will be up for several dates this December. You can also contact Miles’s dad, David, to schedule an appointment to view the exhibit, at dforemanwv@gmail.com. Even if you don’t get a chance to get up to the Pajama Factory, keeps your eyes peeled; the Samek plans to exhibit more of Miles’ work during the Fall 2016 semester. Stay tuned!
To learn more about Miles, visit his website here. There is also a Miles McKennan Foreman Fund at the Green Dragon Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the experience of students in the Lewisburg Area School District. You can make a contribution in his memory by contacting its Executive Director Ann Glock, or you can donate online.
Ann M. Glock
115 Farley Circle, Suite 306
Lewisburg, PA 17837
Phone: (570) 522-8433
info@greendragonfoundation.org
