Photo Collages

by Ginny Santora

The first lecture of the 2001-2002 season began with a demonstration of photo collages by Vicky Culver. Much thanks to Neil Larsen for putting us in touch with Vicky! Vicky Culver was born in Liverpool, England, and was awarded a B.Sc. in Graphic Design and Photography from Manchester College of Art and Design. She designed publicity material and books for Longman, the Publisher, until moving to Canada in 1974, whereupon she established her own freelance partnership in 1982.

Since taking up residence in New Jersey, Vicky has participated in hundreds of Group Shows and exhibitions, as well as many solo shows, and has won numerous awards for her work. Vicky currently works part-time at the Guild of Creative Art and is involved with Arts for Health, in conjunction with the NJ Center for the Healing Arts, Inc., Red Bank.

Vicky uses photography as a means to an end, not an end itself. She employs techniques that emphasize large vs. small, something out of focus contrasting with something with a hard edge, lights and darks, etc. She likes smooth surfaces and fitting everything together very tightly, but she always wants her collages to have a central image.

Vicky gave the club a demonstration of her technique. Working with a photo on a piece of Foam Cor, she applied Gudy-870 Mounting Adhesive from Neschen Corporation to the back side of a photograph. She then burnished the photo very carefully, which transferred the sticky adhesive to the back of the photo. Taking an Exacto knife, Vicky carefully cut out the part of the photo she wanted to use and lifted it away from the adhesive paper. The cut was made on an angle to ensure that no white parts of the paper showed. She uses a triangle to help make her measurements and works on a cutting board with 1/16" calibrations. Vicky repeated this process with the various photos she used to gradually construct her collage.

When framing, Vicky always uses metal and never uses wood, due to the tendency of wood to absorb moisture and transfer it to the picture. She also makes sure to keep a space between the picture and the glass or Plexiglas that she uses in the frame.

Vicky does not like to listen to music while she is working; she feels it destroys the concentration and the meditative-like state she likes to achieve while working. She does not wear gloves, but does wash her hands frequently to keep them clean and as oil-free as possible.

For those interested in seeing more photo collages, there will be a juried show at the Guild on October 3rd and 4th. You can visit Vicky's Web site at http://www.vickyweb.net.