Focus through the lens of SoA grad Amy Bedik

Amy Bedik’s photography, now on display at the Italian Academy (1161 Amsterdam Ave., between 116th and 117th streets), offers a journey through time and around the world. Using a 1960s Diana plastic camera, Bedik captures ancient Greco-Roman sculptures and picturesque landscapes in a dreamlike focus.

The Italian Academy promotes exploration of and research on Italian culture and society. “We have a small exhibitions program that is part of the general program,” Allison Jeffrey, assistant director in charge of events at the Italian Academy, said. “Bedik came and showed us her work, and we felt it really fits with the mission of the Italian Academy.”

“Figure and Ground” features 15 of Bedik’s works, taken in the past two years and during her early career as a photographer. Eleven of those works are black and white photographs of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, while four are color landscapes.

Of her Diana camera, Bedik said, “I have been using it since I was 20 years old, and I think initially, I was more interested in distortion the camera can produce. My pictures were looking at something and then looking at how the camera distorted it.”

Bedik’s photographs do show that distortion. For example, in her series of Roman figure sculptures, the structure and serenity of the sculptures are contrasted with a hazy and blurred quality from the camera. The combination of the effect from the camera and Bedik’s use of light and shadow creates a dramatic sense of mystery and movement.

“It’s not so much about putting something in the middle and not paying attention to the images,” Bedik said. “It really is a horrendous camera to use—the shutter doesn’t work, they break, the film blanks, light leaks. That being said, the image they produce, for me, is really very close to the way I see, and very evocative to the things I photograph,” Bedik said. “The emotional element works for me. No other camera works the same way.”

Bedik attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she studied fine photography. After graduating, she moved to New Haven and became the curator of the estate of Walker Evans. She then moved to London to work as a curator for the Victoria and Albert Museum and showed her photographs there and in Paris. After working in Europe, Bedik returned to New York with her husband to study screenwriting and directing at Columbia’s School of the Arts. Bedik worked in the film industry while at Columbia before returning to photography two years ago.

This exhibition is the first time Bedik has shown color photographs—of dramatic and lush landscapes in Turkey.

“Color allows me to abstract in a way that my black and white work doesn’t allow me to,” Bedik said.

Though Bedik has used the same camera for her entire photography career, she has adapted her style of printing. After her local darkroom was closed, Bedik searched for alternative ways to produce her Diana prints and switched to digital printing. Her printers, Lesley Deschler Canossi and Andrew Buckland at Fiber Ink Studio, produce “archival pigment prints,” printed on Hahnemühle Bamboo 290, 90 percent bamboo-fiber and 10 percent cotton-fiber paper.

The opening reception on Oct. 18 was crowded with people munching on Italian antipasti and standing in small groups around the photographs. Attendees spoke in both English and Italian about a range of subjects: art, photography, travel, history, and culture.

“We are always interested in work that will fit the mission of the Italian Academy,” Jeffrey said. “Bedik is a very fine artist, and we look forward to presenting her work.”