San Jose-based photographer Allan Barnes, a former photojournalist who teaches at Ann Sobrato High School, is opening a show of his works at Cura Contemporary in downtown Morgan Hill.
The upcoming show, which opens Jan. 10, features Barnes’ use of historic photographic processes, cameras and techniques, says an announcement of the show from Cura Contemporary. The show, titled “Meditations,” will be on view through Feb. 23.
Barnes creates wet collodion tintypes using an early 19th-century technique of coating glass or aluminum plates with light-sensitive chemicals before placing the plate in a camera and exposing it to light, Cura Contemporary said. After the plates are exposed to light, they are dipped and rinsed in chemical solutions.
Most recently, Barnes has been creating work out of a mobile darkroom built into his 1985 Toyota Dolphin RV, traveling up and down the Pacific Coast Highway to take and develop large format photographs of the local coastal landscape.
Barnes has nearly four decades of experience in photography. As a former photojournalist, his work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Spin and Metropolis Magazine, according to Cura Contemporary.
After relocating to California in 2007, Allan shifted his focus to teaching and has been an instructor of digital photography at Ann Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill since 2017. In addition to his high school classes, he offers workshops on historic photographic processes across California, including at his San Jose studio—where he specializes in portraiture using 19th-century cameras and techniques.
In conjunction with Barnes’ solo show, the gallery will host its first artist talk, “Darkroom Alchemy with Allen Barnes,” says a press release from Cura Contemporary. During the talk—which will explore the artist’s career—Barnes’ mobile darkroom will be on display.
The Jan. 19 artist talk is free and open to the public. Reserve a spot online at https://tinyurl.com/dpecr3xn.
Cura Contemporary is located at 17395 Monterey Road in downtown Morgan Hill.
