Bacon Lettuce Photo

by Jesse

Ed Magliaro is a man caught between many mediums, always looking through his lens for something that rattles him. A 2008 graduate of The Museum School at Tufts, Magliaro has been exploring the outer realms of art for years. Between painting, playing bass in his band, Creoles and doing graffiti, he has been able to generate and capture a full range of emotions.

His thoughts on photography express a man willing to adapt to the digital age, while at the same time refining a need for the traditional, accepting art and style for what they are in their medium.

“I became interested in photography through my sister Erica, who shoots mostly with a large format 4″x5″ film camera.  Those cameras produce an extremely detailed sharp image, the same camera that said photographers such as Ansel Adams used,” Magliaro says.  Before diving into digital he believes you must understand the reason and method digital photography borrows from.

“For people to really understand why and how digital photography has changed photography and the way the it is viewed they had to first start off doing traditional darkroom processes, for example black and white silver printing, nonsilver processes etc…”, he explains.

With the crisp sharp quality of 4”x5” film cameras comes a fragile, 30 pound burden that you wouldn’t want to lug across the rugged Na’Pali coast of Kauai’s, one of Magliaro’s many adventures.

Na’Pali coast of Kauai, Hawaii

“So this brings me to why I like digital photography.  It’s portable, can produce almost equally amazing images, although the tones may be different,” Magliaro says.

What bothers Magliaro is why so many people are always comparing digital against traditional photography. He accepts the differences for what they are.

“People are so hung up about comparing digital photography and traditional photography. One must realize that when it’s all said and done, they’re different,” he says.

“I could almost venture to say different mediums like drawing and painting, they hold the same basic qualities, light exposure, image rendering, but both digital and traditional photography go through a completely different process to get to the end point,” Magliaro adds.

The 23-year-old knows the lasting impact on digital photography as breaking free from basic traditional forms.

“I see the digital age of photography creating its own independence, if it hasn’t already, from traditional photography; it’s a whole different animal.  One thing that digital cameras have seriously changed in people is the way they see, their mind’s eye. For example before external view screens were created on every little handheld camera people had to look through a lens, a viewfinder, to frame up an a shot.  Whether or not most people realize it upon looking though a lens they’re simply magnifying the data in their eye, it is a personal relationship with your body,” Magliaro explains.

He grumbles at the notion, “But now with all these LCD screens on the back of every damn camera it’s like looking at a television screen, you might as well be sitting at home drinking a beer on the couch, because many of the personal qualities of photography are robbed…by these damn little screens!”

Magliaro thinks this reflects the state of our culture, “People stopped going outside as much, watching more TV, interacting with other people, staring at computers more.  I’m not saying digital cameras or photography is bad but it has completely changed the physiology behind and the physical way people record events in their daily lives.

He is a foot soldier, having cut his way from Philadelphia to New York, to Boston, and later out to Honolulu, firing photos, skating and rebelling in his own form.

“I really love art that has moxy, balls…something that actually makes a statement point, Political art, graffiti,” Magliaro says.

On the social state of his generation, he is fed up.

“People have been sitting around their studios painting their dreams and self prophecies long enough. I am 23 years old and I cordially invite one person in my generation to get off their couch. We are the most we’ll educated generation and we do nothing about all this war and political stuff in our country.  Go OUTSIDE and paint something,” he says.

For as progressive as he is, Magliaro often returns to traditional photography.

“I still love to do traditional processes but doing stuff on the computer does totally kick ass…there are no toxic chemicals, you don’t have to be in the dark.  The new versions of Photoshop are awesome; it’s like carrying a ridiculously high-end darkroom in my backpack,” he says. “ I shoot with a Nikon D70, it kind of sucks but I don’t have any money to upgrade, but I do really love Nikon lens,” Magliaro explains.

Magliaro keeps the present in perspective, always working on several projects, thoughts and areas of his life at once.

“Right now I’m in limbo between trying to be a musician, artist, uncle, traveler, photojournalist…they’re all good things though so it’s all good.”

Ed Magliaro’s band, Creoles, can be listened at http://myspace.com/creoles