1000 WORDS
Cain and Abel
June 5, 2009 - Roger Varland
About the piece
Gelatin silver print
1996
Cain and Abel is not a piece of recent work, but it is the most requested and reproduced. In a sort of reverse engineering, the picture was taken on a whim while testing a new camera. It was only while looking at the proof sheet a few months later that the illustration struck me.
My more recent work revolves around the social or cultural landscape and what the things we build say about us. In this venture, I find much in common with the New Topographics movement of the 1970s. At the same time, as a photography teacher, I end up with an eclectic shooting style in order to provoke my students.
About the artist
Roger Varland is professor of history and art at Spring Arbor University, where he has served in one capacity or another since 1981. Areas of teaching include photography, art history, and field-based cross-cultural studies. he latter has involved ten overseas adventures with students. He has taught high school in Kenya and English in China. He and his wife Deborah, who also teaches at the university, have four children, ages 6-22.
© Copyright 2009 Roger Varland
