When you feel raw emotion from looking at a piece of art, you know it’s a treasure…that’s how I feel when I look at Kevin Salemme’s photographs. For me, it’s a roller coaster ride looking at the various shots he has taken, and it all depends on how I felt before I started looking at them. I can’t decide if I have spent more time looking at his art or attempting to write this article.
When you’re around Kevin, talking about photography, you can feel the excitement and passion he has for his work. You can tell he wants to give others the same experience he has with photography. I asked Kevin what drew him to photography, he said, “I like how photographs could look like my dreams.” Simply stated, but so deep.
The way Kevin describes his photos is captivating. When he was describing a photo of the Duomo of Milan he said, “it must be the same way Dorothy saw the Emerald City.” There’s no way you can be around Kevin talking about photography and not gain the same enthusiasm for the artwork.
My favorite shot by Kevin was a part of his “Lanterna” exhibition, which was featured in Geneva. It was taken at Chateau de Chillon in Switzerland (shown below). It’s simple if you take a quick glance, looking through a doorway onto a body of water. But staring at the photograph for a moment too long, you get lost in the scenery. Immediately you appreciate the detail…the wooden doors, showing the pattern in the grain of the wood, the lighting, exhibiting the ripple in the water, the deep shadows enveloping the doors, the bright light from the sun shining on the limited space of the right door. Both the color and black and white versions show a hope, longing for the outdoors and shows the beauty of both natural and built environments.
If Kevin made a complete list of everything he has done photography wise you’d be floored; it would be a shorter conversation to ask him what he hasn’t done, rather than what he has. He got into photography in his teens and ended up attending The Art Institute of Boston for his bachelors and got his masters at Harvard. His work has been “exhibited as far afield as Switzerland and France, locally around the Boston area and in Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield,” and Kevin has even published a book!
Kevin has shot band covers, weddings, parties, head shots, commercial, studio, art, and personal photography; pretty much he’s done it all. One of the band covers he shot was for Moon Seven Times. He sent them a box of photographs and the band ended up using one of them as a CD cover; they were such fans of his work they wanted him to shoot their press photos in Chicago.
From there he ended up doing a side project with one of the band members; Kevin was given music to shoot photos that harmonize. The photographs he took were of landscapes all over Europe and he ended up using them for an exhibit as well. The gallery showing was in Switzerland called Lanterna, which is also the bands name, and the CD was played alongside his photographs and sold at the exhibit.
If you look through his work, you’ll notice the photographs look like it’s split into three separate frames; it’s a technique favored by Kevin called triptych. He actually came across this accidentally.
He came across an Olympus Pen Ef, a half-frame camera, at a flea market- unaware that it was rare- and after projection printing some photographs, two would fit into the enlarger. Kevin thought it was neat and thought to try to make it so three would fit into the enlarger, so he used a metal file and sawed the edges to fit a third. Also, if you look at the edges around some of his photos they are rough; the rough edges were created from the sawing, another trademark of Kevin’s.
Looking at his photos you can see many are on the road, at airports, train stations, or other ports of departure, which are some of Kevin’s favorite places to shoot. It’s interesting for him because of the “disappear factor.” Kevin said he literally grabbed a camera, backpack, and an airplane ticket to see where it takes him; it’s how he’s gotten a lot of his pictures.
Kevin has traveled all over for his landscape photography; to sum up the list, Kevin hasn’t been to Asia or Africa. The stories Kevin has from his travel experience are epic. Kevin told him in Central America his group was car jacked at gunpoint; that experience made him realize, “you can’t go anywhere you want…you’re subject to whatever war, (or) violence there is.” He’s decided that from now on he’s going to stick to “civilized countries,” places where he can blend in easier.
Kevin’s work can be found on his personal website, kevinsalemme.smugmug.com. He has everything on there from landscapes and portraits to weddings and other works published.
As for at Merrimack, Kevin’s been running the media center for about 27 years and has taught photography for over 20 years. He’s done, “most of the aerial photographs of Merrimack, flying in helicopters with the door off, or small planes,” and we cannot forget to mention how he’s always lending a helping hand to students with various photography projects. Kevin also took on creating a website specifically to archive the multitude of photographs of Merrimack; categories include a range from people, architecture, experimental learning, theatre, and the history of the college. If you’re ever interested in checking it out, the site is merrimack.smugmug.com.
Kevin’s more than just a photographer; he’s also a camera enthusiast. He has a collection of about twenty half-frame cameras. Some of his favorite photographers are Lee Friedlander and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Off the top of a hat, Kevin can recall different photographers and their styles, recommending various artists to those who aspire to become one. He’s obtained so much experience over the past years in photography as well as traveling. If you get the chance, head on over to the media center and have a chat with Kevin, guaranteed you won’t regret it.