In Progress
Exhibition Series with Ryan Foerster

Ryan Foerster is an artist whose main medium is documentary photography. His process involves taking photos with a camera as well as creating photograms in the darkroom and outside in nature. He often uses leftover and found materials, a process he equates to composting.

Made while in residence at Pioneer Works, this exhibition consists of black-and-white photographs, photograms, and archives. Series include photographs from negatives shot over the years in Brighton Beach, where he lives; a project of unsuccessful photos combined with copyright-free images; and works made from a Punk Island poster from the last time Foerster was on Governors Island, in 2008.

Using paper sourced from the last dark rooms of Camera Club of New York on 37th Street, Foerster began with photogram “garden prints,” exposing light-sensitive paper to the elements for days at a time. Letting the sun, the rain, and the earth bleach and corrode the paper around and beneath pots placed on top of them, the images created are reminiscent of the moon or dead planets. Inspired by these experiments, he spent his month at the Pioneer Works darkroom producing black and white images.

Baxter Street at the Camera Club of New York and Pioneer Works have partnered to bring three photographers from the Baxter Street community to process black and white photography in the darkroom at Pioneer Works, over the course of one month. This residency partnership will result in three “In Progress” exhibitions at Governors Island, at Nolan Park 8B.