“I usually give my pictures and writing a little time to mature before I share them with others,” says the world-famous photographer Cig Harvey in an interview with the Phoblographer. “This time allows for a greater understanding of the work and what it is saying and doing before I put it out there in the world. Typically, I work in book format, so the relationship between the images and how they communicate with each other is essential.” It’s a process that takes a lot of patience, time, and gets easier once you realize that Instagram isn’t the end-all-be-all of photography. Instead, some of the world’s biggest photographers aim to get their work into museums and galleries. That’s exactly what Cig has done.
All images by Cig Harvey. Used with permission. Please visit her website and Instagram @cigharvey for more. These images are from Cig Harvey’s FEAST, which can be visited at the Robert Mann Gallery in NYC until May 2nd, 2024.
Cig’s words aren’t dissimilar from the ones that older generations have told me for years. Their ideas instead centered more on the fact that a photograph isn’t finished until it’s printed and made manifest. It’s a dichotomous belief in the fact of content creation and feeding an algorithm such as Instagram.
In truth, Cig says you should focus on your work instead of pleasing an algorithm. It takes time — but the goal is to be a photographer and not a content creator who will be forgotten in history. The work of the long-gone internet sensation Boxxy isn’t as celebrated as Ami Vitale’s, for example. For that, Cig focuses on the idea of making photography books.
FEAST, which is on view at the Robert Mann Gallery until May 2nd, 2024, are pieces that feel like just another part of the great photographer. Cig’s images evoke an eerie beauty that is hypnotizing to look at because of their subtle complexity. “It mirrors real life, and real life can be complicated,” Cig tells us. “I work initially from intuition, responding to the light with the gut, and then I analyze the contact sheets, brainstorm what I have learned, and expand from there. This process often involves a lot of writing and mind mapping to push the ideas further.” Staring at one image can give off the feeling of an earthen Cthulhu waiting to bring you in. Still, another image can mimic the idea of the yellow brick road and all that it may bring with it.
Cig works with the ideas very thoroughly before picking up her camera — it’s an idea that adds to originality instead of basing ideas off of other visual media. She gets very deep into her own thoughts when doing this kind of work — so much so that what she must do to get the shot feels intuitive when she picks up her camera. “Ultimately, I want the viewer to have the same experience with my pictures as I had when I made images—the feeling in the body that comes with bearing witness to something rare in the every day,” she tells us.
Something we truly love about Cig’s work is how incredibly human it is — especially given that it’s not trying to please an algorithm of some sort. Instead, she works from a place of feeling. This is the work that an AI cannot create either. With that said Cig believes that Photoshop-based work and AI can be excellent. However, she also states that that kind of stuff isn’t for her.
I love what photography brings to my life. I don’t want to sit in front of a computer any more than I already do. I want to be out there in the world, seeking and witnessing beauty. I want to touch things, smell things, taste things, use all my senses, and experience the world. Be here now. Feel this. I want to get up to see the beautiful light at dawn, to make a portrait standing in a blizzard, and to know what happens when I photograph a cake in a silver box floating down a river. It is more about photography as a way of life. It goes beyond the resulting pictures.
Cig Harvey
Cig Harvey’s FEAST can be seen at the Robert Mann Gallery until May 2nd 2024. Part of her work is also on display at Fotografiska NY in the Human/Nature exhibit.
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT
The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.
Cig used the Leica Q2 to make these images but she also uses a Fujifilm GFX 100 II for her work.