Photos courtesy of Chris Velasco.
CSULB alum and professional photographer Chris Velasco will be showcasing his first solo show “Density” at District Wine, on Sunday, April 26th. The show features landscapes, dense foliage and water photography from Hawaii, comprised of shots on Oahu and Kauai.
While Density will be Velasco’s first solo show, he describes it as just another extension of his art. “It’s a new avenue for me,” he says. Velasco graduated from CSULB in 2009 with a BA in Photography, where he then went on to do professional work with brands such as Billabong, Krew Denim, Supra Footwear and others.
Density will feature 3 different series of photographs, a color series, an infrared series, and a prism distortion series. The infrared series appears to be black and white at first glance, but there are several differences. “The black tones are much richer,” Velasco says. “There’s more contrast in using infrared, and the highlights can be sort of hazy.”
Velasco hopes that his photography can also help convey a message. “I want to bring awareness and maintain the beauty of the land,” he says. The awareness he is referring to is the current controversy in Hawaii regarding the Thirty Meter Telescope. “I want [Density] to almost be a documentary on land conservation.”
Velasco’s experience in commercial fashion and marketing has allowed him to be more succinct and efficient in his editing process. “But some of these tools just become second nature,” he says. “I’m using all these skills without even knowing it sometimes.”
The series was also distilled from his desire to go back to his origins and traditional techniques learned from school. “I wanted to let the photography speak for itself, and not get too creative with titles,” he says.
The photos showcased will be both film and digital work. The selected images for Density will be of various sizes, and resin coated to create a glossy, high-contrast gallery ready print. The largest of these prints will be 3’x 4’.
Velasco knew what he wanted his photographs to say when he embarked for Hawaii, but before he went he wasn’t sure how to say it. After several hundred photographs in Hawaii “It’s not until post you figure out the whole story,” he says. “Everything comes together, congeals and makes sense, but you have to go with a purpose.”
Density will be opening at District Wine on Sunday April 26th, from 5:00PM – 9:00PM. District Wine is located at 144 Linden Ave.
{FG_GEOMAP [33.7690314,-118.18618119999996] FG_GEOMAP}