Photography for Bodie: Good Times and Bad
Presented by Will Furman
Will Furman will give an illustrated talk on his photography, particularly images of Bodie, America’s favorite ghost town, from the recent book, Bodie: Good Times and Bad at the November 6 meeting of the San Gorgonio Chapter. Mr. Furman did the photography and Nicholas Clapp wrote the text for the book.The meeting starts at 7:30 p. m. at the San Bernardino County Museum, 2014 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands.
The fine art images of Will Furman bring together a lifetime of immersion in film, drama, theater, music and photography. He has directed and photographed hundreds of film and television productions, and numerous live music shows. He is also a cabaret singer, musician and performer. Through his involvement in the arts he has developed a distinct eye that captures the drama, serenity and magic of nature and the world around him.
The landscape of the American West has been Furman’s major focus. Furman’s desire is to make people feel the spirit of the locale. PhotoReflections is a single exposure technique he has developed to capture the spirit that is still alive in the historic towns of the west. Shooting through a window while simultaneously capturing the reflection in the glass often creates the appearance of a double exposure, but this one click of the shutter creates a ghost-like image that makes the viewer feel they are looking back in time. This technique is introduced in Bodie: Good Times and Bad.
Furman has a long background in the commercial art world that prepared him for becoming a fine art photographer. He received a B.A. and M.A. from San Francisco State University in Television and Motion Pictures. His Master Thesis was a documentary film he filmed in Afghanistan.
He founded Furman Films in San Francisco and was commissioned to produce, direct and photograph hundreds of commercials for America’s largest advertising agencies, and scores of films for corporations such as Apple Computer, Levi Strauss, Boise Cascade, Black & Decker, and Sun-Maid Raisins. His award-winning documentary Beyond Courage: Surviving Vietnam as a P.O.W. was the first program to take P.O.W.’s back into the Hanoi Hilton and other prison camps after the war.
“All the chapters of my life; directing, producing, acting, singing, film, television and theater, have now converged in my still photography,” says Furman. “Each discipline is about connecting with people and touching them emotionally in a lasting way. Using all the skills I have acquired over the years, I strive to achieve that in each one of my images.”
Mr. Furman appears courtesy of his publisher, Sunbelt Publications. He is expected to have copies of his book available for sale and signing.
