Aquarius Records presents It's A Swing Thing, a collection of photographs by local photographers Emilie Wilson and Carolyn Mackin. The work of these two women represent very different perspectives and styles documenting the swing scene.
Emilie Wilson is a San Francisco based freelance photographer. She grew up in the Bay Area and has been shooting in San Francisco since the late Eighties. She has been published in numerous traditional and online publications and has been shown in galleries in San Francisco, New York City and Europe. Since December 1995, as a way to share a photographic glimpse of one person's life in the city, she has produced a weekly website, "SnapCity" (previously "SnapShots of San Francisco").
For Emilie swing was more than just a scene..."I love the Americana feel of big band, country, rockabilly, and swing. I love the music and the dancing, but as a photographer I am drawn to it visually as well. Although these images weren't created as a particular project on swing, they were pulled from a larger documentary project on life in the City... and for awhile now swing has been a big part of that for many of us. Snobs and posers? Sure. Gap ads and showoffs? Definitely. But so what... good music, dancing and drinking... I love it too much to hate."
Carolyn Mackin began photographing the underground swing scene upon moving to San Francisco two years ago. She became fascinated with Guys and Dolls dressed in zoot suits and saddle shoes slithering down into a basement lounge to sip dry martinis and swing the night away. She works professionally as a digital imager and has exhibited work in New York, London, and the Boston area.
Carolyn's work captures a romantic side of the scene. "The big band music, retro costumes, and lively dancing intoxicate my senses. My focus was to capture the amazing energy of movement and sound, as well as a nostalgia for the past." Her images are shot in low light with a hand held Hasselblad camera and black and white negative film. Color and texture are added to the scanned negatives and manipulated digitally to create ethereal images which compliment her subject matter.
