Artist Entry: Daniel Shea

"Chesire, Ohio" Part of the Plume series. 2009-2010.

"Sunday Morning" Part of the Removing Mountains series, 2007.

"Kudzu" Part of the Removing Mountains series, 2007.

"Larry Gibson's Chair" Part of the Removing Mountains series, 2007.

"Slurry Impoundment" Part of the Removing Mountains series, 2007.

"Old Coal Supports" Part of the Plume series. 2009-2010.

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I found Daniel Shea’s work on The Photography Post Blog. It was particularly interesting to me because it reminded me of my first self-assigned photographic project. In 2007, I drove from the beginning of route 250 (also known as Broad Street), to the end. The road starts in Church Hill and ends at the edge of Lake Eerie in Ohio. 250 took us deep through Appalachia, passing through abandoned coal mining towns as well as obviously economically devastated communities. I’ve always been interested in photographing rural communities and their residents. Shea’s work explores these locales through two projects; Removing Mountains “which focused on mountaintop removal, a particularly pervasive form of coal mining” as well as Plume, which “tracks this coal up river to Ohio, where it is being burned to generate electricity”. I think that Shea approached his subjects and subject matter in a tactful and respectful way. I don't get the sense of exploitation in the portraits of the residents, and his political slant isn't too overwhelming. "Plume, 2009-2010." Daniel Shea. Web. 25 Sep 2011. <http://www.danielpshea.com/projects/plume/>.

Biography:

Daniel Shea graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in 2007. He is anticipating on graduating with an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2013. He has had three artist residencies, two during 2010 at Acre Residency and Harold Arts Residency, as well as Kelly Kacyznski’s Unnamed Future Space in 2011. His partial client and publication list includes TIME, Nylon, The Wall Street Journal, Popular Mechanics, Rolling Stone, and National Public Radio.

Quotes:

You temporarily moved to and lived in a mountain town in Appalachia for 3 months in order to complete this project, how did you approach what you were doing with other members of the home you lived in?

"I approached the situation with sincere and 100% genuine reverence. I’ve learned so much from listening to other people over the years, especially in the context of struggle. Coming to this region as a complete outsider was something I was constantly aware of. I reconciled my position of privilege only by gradually increasing my place in the community from passive witness to an involved artist. That being said, again, I had to maintain the perception of neutrality, so I was clearly not in the region as an activist (despite living with some of the most amazing activists I have ever met). I expected my transition into the community to be slow, however the people I lived with, and the folks involved in the fight against MTR were exceedingly warm and welcoming and made my stay there feel like home.” Bakacs, Andrea. "Interview with Daniel Shea." Photography for a Greener Planet.  Web. 25 Sep 2011. <http://photographyforagreenerplanet.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/interview-with-daniel-shea/>.

“Appalachian culture is historically defined through coal practices and popularly defined by an unfair misconception about its people and the conditions in which they live. In reality, I found communities sustaining culturally rich legacies while maintaining a cautious distance to outsiders (like myself). These photographs represent not only the process of following an industry’s production start to finish, but also spending time with locals as they sometimes struggled to deal with the realities of living in coal country.” "Removing Mountains, 2007." Daniel Shea. Web. 25 Sep 2011. <http://www.danielpshea.com/projects/removing-moutains/>.

Interview: http://photographyforagreenerplanet.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/interview-with-daniel-shea/

Gallery: Shea isn’t affiliated with one particular gallery. However, he has been partaking in one-and –two person exhibitions as well as group exhibitions since 2005. Some of these galleries include Festival Alt + 1000 in Switzerland, The Center for Art and Culture in Aix-en-Provence, France, Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, IL, and Stripeman Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.  You can find a more complete list of this exhibitions here: http://www.danielpshea.com/cv/ .

Artist Website: http://www.danielpshea.com/