Exhibition
This solo exhibition presented a body of photographs by accomplished film photographer Jennifer Newton—the artist’s first solo project at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands. Comprised of a series of stunningly executed black and white prints, the featured images foregrounded the artist’s close observation and exploration of form, light, shadow, and composition, utilising her technical powers and sensitive eye to capture the innate beauty that exists in the most innocuous and overlooked details that surround us in our everyday lives. Seeing nature through the framing window of a camera’s viewfinder, the resulting images embodied a conceptual approach rooted in a rigorous formalism and the deliberate deployment of visual economy, with Newton declaring “I would rather focus on a doorknob than an entire house.”
Through her experimentation with different film types and developing techniques, visitors to the exhibition were treated to an expressive medley of images that captured the natural and man-made beauty of the Caymanian landscape—the weathered surfaces of traditionally built wooden cottages, the rolling clouds of a storm approaching our shores, and the mirror-like surface of water caught in a moment of stillness.
Jennifer Newton was curated by founding Director Leslie Bigelman, and was on view at Grand Old House, an off-site venue that hosted National Gallery exhibitions for several years, from 8 January – 27 February 2003.
About the Artist
Jennifer Newton
Jennifer Newton is a professional photographer who has worked for Caymanian publications such as the Nor’wester magazine and The Sun newspaper, while also pursuing her craft in fine art photography. She creates her work from the perspective that “when you photograph in colour you photograph the clothes, but when you photograph in black and white you photograph the soul.” In 1998 she founded the Spotted Dog Photography Studio in West Bay, Grand Cayman, where for many years she offered courses in black and white photography, as well as film processing and photographic services. She currently maintains one of the last remaining darkrooms on Grand Cayman and continues to explore the creative capacity and expressive potential of her chosen medium. Past NGCI exhibitions include Jennifer Newton (2003), Stories We Tell (2003), and Body Talk (2004).
