Observations Are Not Knowledge

Observations Are Not KnowledgeView camera portraits of "obscure midwestern denizens" interspersed with writings and documents by J. Shimon & J. Lindemann of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The photographs capture the flavor of the landscape and the quiet melancholy realities of American rural and small town life. As photographers, the artists establish a subjective historical view; they become involved in situations and respond to them. Their early captivation with Depression era FSA

View camera portraits of "obscure midwestern denizens" interspersed with writings and documents by J. Shimon & J. Lindemann of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The photographs capture the flavor of the landscape and the quiet melancholy realities of American rural and small town life. As photographers, the artists establish a subjective historical view; they become involved in situations and respond to them.Their early captivation with Depression-era FSA photos, Edward Steichen's masterful gum prints, anonymous snapshots, and Robert Frank--who gave them the impulse to photograph everything in their path--has led them to a "new timelessness" in contemporary imagery and themes. Shimon and Lindemann met as art students in 1981, with Midwestern punk an early influence and connection. They are Assistant Professors of Art at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. Catalog for "It Takes One to Know One" exhibition at Sarah Bowen Gallery, Brooklyn, New York (September-October 2006). 28 b/w and color illustrations.