Lara McLaughlin: Hackers
Lara McLaughlin wonders if the people who developed the photographs she took as a child with her pink Kodak 110 camera ever looked closely at the pictures. “They would have seen some very weird stuff!” she laughs. Lara was a prolific photographer, taking pictures of everything from the cats she dressed up to the wild animals her dad caught. “I took my camera everywhere.”
As an art student, Lara photographed ordinary objects such as maps, calculators, and DVDs, as well as scenes from movies, to create a series of abstract photographs she’s been working on since 2005. She doesn’t do much digital photography, and has found a method of developing prints using instant coffee and Vitamin C tablets. “This method is safe for the environment, and it gives the prints a softer look.” Normally, Lara likes a lot of bright color and deep black in her work, but her concern for the environment – she lives in an apartment and doesn’t want to put dangerous chemicals in the drain – led her to this alternative. (She still has to use fixer, but saves the used chemicals for toxic waste recycling.)
Lara did not know she would study photography in college, but after a stint as a double major in law and journalism, she made the switch. “It was just after 9/11. I was shaken and had to re-evaluate my direction in life.” Lara didn’t like the tone of the media at that time, and to the consternation of her family, who approved of art as a hobby but not a profession, she entered the art program at Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (within the George Washington University) where she found a supportive group with her professors and fellow students.
After graduating with a BA in Fine Arts (with a concentration in Photography and a minor in Film Studies) from George Washington University in Washington, D. C., Lara joined the Peace Corps and was sent to Romania. Family obligations brought her back to the U.S. after two years, although she had been accepted to another Peace Corps trip to Mongolia. The summer after she returned from Romania, Lara borrowed a Jeep and drove across the country, attended Burning Man, and moved to California. Recently married, Lara is a full-time student with a newly awakened interest in history, which she combines with her practice in photography. “Except on Saturdays. I give myself a break one day a week!”
Lara’s art deals with the impermanence of life and how temporary things are, including photographs. 
Her work utilizes images from films, shadows, the rusted, flaking interiors of aging buildings, and in a series called “An Expedition into the Footage of Revered Circadian Paraphernalia,” Lara combines film shots of her favorite movies with abstract expressionism. She captured the images by freezing a scene and photographing it with a Polaroid 600 camera. Then she scanned the photographs into her computer. There was no further manipulation except for removal of dust spots and correction of lighting and contrast. To quote Lara’s comments, “I feel the abstractions in this series blended both concept and media well (including a painterly feel to some of the pieces).” This series of fourteen photographs appeared in an exhibition during the month of July, 2009, at San Jose’s Art Object Gallery.
Lara’s life is full to the brim balancing her personal life, studies, work and photography. “Don’t be scared,” she advises artists who are just starting out. “You have to be brave. Artists put themselves into their work, but you can’t take yourself too seriously either.” And, “seek out supportive people.” Deadlines can be a good thing, forcing you to focus and get things done. “I work better with structure.”
To view Lara McLaughlin’s art, go to her website: http://larafineart.com. You can also read her blog at http://larafineart.wordpress.com/. Lara is a member of Silicon Valley Artists Collaborative. For more information on environmentally safe photo development, see How to Develop Film Using Coffee and Vitamin C! or Coffee, Tea or Vitamin C: Kitchen Chemistry in the Darkroom.
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