Atkins “Girls Night Out” is a small collection of beautiful and evocative Black & White images of Lesbian night-club patrons, out to have some fun, and enjoy themselves openly. Chloe Atkins photographs reveal the personalities, sexuality, playfulness, and diversity of San Francisco’s lesbian community. The book presents a refreshingly positive, and progressive view of gay women at their best and most engaging. The pictures are often humorous, subtly erotic, intensely personal, and clearly capture the essence of girl/girl relationships.
The Photographer
Chloe Atkins was born in Nevada and grew up in Northern California. She started calling San Francisco home in the late eighties. She specializes in large format Black & White images of lesbians (and gay men) and her photographs celebrate a lesbian sensibility and solidarity through art. Her subjects share more than a lifestyle, they understand the energy, physical connection, and creativity inherent in an alternative culture based on the shared values of sisterhood and love.
Atkins fills her strong compositions with a healthy dose of humor and a genuine tenderness and affection for her subjects, which allows her to attain a dramatic and visceral level of visual communication. Over the past dozen years she has created an important body of work documenting the Lesbian night-club scene in San Francisco. Chloe Atkins is a remarkably perceptive and talented photographer who uses her artistic vision to show the extraordinary beauty present in ordinary people. Her gorgeously detailed Black & White photographs have an emotional depth that is rare in portrait photography, an empathetic perceptual awareness that opens the lives of her subjects like spreading the pages of a book. The viewer is provided a window into the lesbian social world. The women in the images are comfortable with the photographer revealing more of themselves and their lifestyles than they intend. Chloe Atkins photographs have been published in a variety of media in the U. S. and other countries, this is her first book.
Atkins—“Girls Night Out” illustrates the cultural and artistic influences that have shaped the muse that drives Ms. Atkins. There are echoes of the spontaneous immediacy of Bruce Davidson, and a clear homage to the “screwball” comedies of Movie Director Frank Capra and the Hollywood Glamour photography of George Hurrell. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment” philosophy is obvious in the timing and staging of many of the images. There is a sense of the playful naughtiness of Robert Mappelthorpe, and sometimes the wide-eyed innocence of Frederick Sommer. There is a distinct historical nod to the “feminist” photography movement, especially to the “girl power” humor of Judy Dater, the self involvement and cultural iconography of Cindy Sherman, the self deprecating fun of Eve Arnold, and the clean compositional technique of Annie Leibovitz. There are more subtle references to the “constructivist” intensity of Harry Callahan and the “hip” no contrivances look of Lee Friedlander’s best work. Atkins has absorbed and skillfully distilled all these influences, she confidently overlays them with her own sexuality, personality, sense of style, creative vision, and a sharp critical eye for detail. She creates a look that is definitely about today, but doesn’t forget the lessons of yesterday. Her artistic vision is clearly realized, and her compositions make an important statement about the time and place in which they were created. Her work obviously has the potential to rank her as a relevant and significant visual artist.
The Book
Atkins—“Girls Night Out is tiny book (purse/pocket size) filled with striking portraits of real people. The large format (4X5) Black & White images are skillfully composed and professionally made by a talented photographer with a highly developed critical eye. The images are very well printed on good quality paper. Unlike most books with photographic plates, Atkins negatives have been printed approximately actual size (contact prints) rather than enlarged, which intensifies the feeling of depth and texture in the images. The pictures show a strong cohesive creative unity, Atkins personal involvement and emotional commitment to her subjects is evident. A few of my favorite images from the book are described below.
“Karen” is a striking and simultaneously charming image of “geeky” innocence, with a Bruce Davidson “in your face” realism.
“Jenna & Joy” (this image is used for the book’s cover photo) A wonderful composition, with a feeling of George Hurrell's ’30's’ Hollywood Glamour, a naughty (but nice) sexiness, and the look of Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night” with both the Gable and Colbert parts played by women.
“Bianca and Randen” Has a slightly raunchy sexiness reminiscent of Robert Mappelthorpe, a detailed and richly textured image of two overtly sexual women.
“Jordy Jones and Stafford” Has an Eve Arnold “Magnum” style look, with multiple layers of irony, subtle humor, and self-deprecation.
“Group Laughter” Shows a grasp of the concept of the “decisive moment” that would have made Henri Cartier-Bresson proud. The faces, gestures, body language, and emotional tension are rendered at the precise moment, the exact instant when the total composition exceeds the sum of its parts. This is a masterful image by a confident and assured artist.
All the images described were chosen because they can be viewed by those interested in immediately seeing some of Chloe Atkins work, on Ms. Atkins website. (the URL is listed following the text of this review) please check it out.
Conclusion
For nearly a decade Chloe Atkins has been documenting the gay/lesbian nightlife scene in San Francisco. She has photographed hundreds of lesbians and gay men, more than twenty thousand images in all. Atkins—“Girls Night Out” is a sympathetic and affectionate portrait of gay women at play, a small collection of Atkins best work, and an intimate peek at a vibrant and the diverse culture. Atkins women play enthusiastically, and while her images are clearly and obviously sexual, there is nothing in the book that is offensive. Atkins photographs are tasteful and, she clearly cares about her subjects and the manner in which the gay lifestyle is depicted.
The images in this tiny book provide an insiders view, an almost voyeuristic glimpse into the relationships and shared lives of Atkins women, a joyful celebration of a lesbian aesthetic. Chloe Atkins subjects are real people, and there is a broad and diverse range to the photographs. Hopefully, Atkins positive and expressive images will help create new visual icons for the way society sees gay women; with acceptance, honesty, humor, tolerance, and empathy.
A Final Word
Chloe Atkins is currently working to find a publisher for a new book featuring her photographs of San Francisco Drag Kings (women who dress as men) her new website features a selection of photographs of Atkins acting out some of her favorite “movie” characters for the camera, playing both model and photographer, “ala” Cindy Sherman. The image of Atkins as Marlon Brando from "The Wild One" is especially good. Check out her photographic work on line at:
http://www.chloeatkins.com/girlsnight.html
http://www.trans-art.org/chloeatkins.html
Atkins—“Girls Night Out”
Photographer: Chloe Atkins
Hardcover, 64 pages, 50 monochrome plates
St. Martins Press, 1998
ISBN: 0312180446
$13.00
This review is a contribution to a write-off that is running concurrent
with the annual celebration of LGBT culture and resistance. The write-off
was organized by ed_grover and Stephen_Murray.
Argonut created our Web Page, which has links to all participants and is located at: http://mynook.com/writeoff/?WID=1 Please join us in reading the entries of the fine writers listed below:
AdaDavis, Bleuchance, ed_grover, eplovejoy, erik_kosberg, frazzledspice, hadassahchana , hashal, hvojr, jiahong, jkkelley, juliette, kamau, kuuleimomi, lernerj, lustylady, Macondo, mangiotto, Mr.Eyore, MrsNormanMaine, MuseMelpomene, NFP, naphtalia, nobody_knows, pageclot, phineaskc, prettyinpink, psychovant , ricardo_ramos, Sordid-1, Sloucho, solleks, Stephen_Murray, telynor, tlimjoco, Wovengold.
I would like to thank Ed Grover for inviting me to participate. I am honored to be included in the company of many of Epinions finest writers.
If you enjoyed reading this review, please check out my other photographic book reviews:
“Not Fade Away” The Rock and Roll Photography of Jim Marshall
http://www.epinions.com/content_20411747972
Wynn Bullock “The Enchanted Landscape” Photographs 1940-1975
http://www.epinions.com/book-review-5DDB-80C8F3E-39DB828E-prod1
just “cut’n’paste” the URL into your browser’s address window
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