Julie Buck
Encyclopedia
Julie Anne Buck is an American
collage
artist, photographer, filmmaker, and film archivist
who lives in New York City
.
. After graduating, she became the manager for the Harvard Film Archive
at Harvard University
. While sorting and preserving films in the Archive's collection, she and her friend and co-archivist Karin Segal became interested in the images of women (known as "China girls") which often appear on the leaders of older films. Buck and Segal began the long process of digitally cleaning, restoring and printing these enigmatic images for an art exhibit titled "Girls On Film," a visual tribute to the many anonymous women who worked in the film industry.
At the same time, Buck began to experiment with collage. Her first large-format collage, Black-Haired Girl: Karin, depicted Segal, with a challenging stare, raising a glass of orange juice at the viewer. Buck has created three collage series to date—"Black-Haired Girls," "Heads" and "Blank Slate"—and has also completed two commissioned works. In college, Buck received a 1950 Rolleiflex
camera that had been owned by her great-grandfather and began using it to take pictures. "Self-Centered," a series of black-and-white photographs of herself wearing various articles of clothing in deliberately staged surroundings, was the result. Recently, after a number of years away from school, Buck decided to pursue her interests in narrative filmmaking. She was accepted to the graduate program at Columbia University
's film school in 2006 and will graduate in film production
in 2011.
, reflecting both Buck's sense of humor and her keen interest in classic film. The black-and-white and color prints of the "Girls On Film" series are both familiar and enigmatic; they are based on the anonymous China Girls
that used to appear in the leaders of film reels.
Buck's work has been exhibited in galleries in Columbus, Ohio
; Boston; Cambridge
and New York City
.
Collage series
Photograph series
Books
Short films (producer)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
artist, photographer, filmmaker, and film archivist
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
who lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Life
Buck studied at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New YorkRochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. After graduating, she became the manager for the Harvard Film Archive
Harvard Film Archive
The Harvard Film Archive is a film archive devoted to cinema located in the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It maintains a collection of over 9000 films and related documents, and regularly screens films in its 210 seat theater...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. While sorting and preserving films in the Archive's collection, she and her friend and co-archivist Karin Segal became interested in the images of women (known as "China girls") which often appear on the leaders of older films. Buck and Segal began the long process of digitally cleaning, restoring and printing these enigmatic images for an art exhibit titled "Girls On Film," a visual tribute to the many anonymous women who worked in the film industry.
At the same time, Buck began to experiment with collage. Her first large-format collage, Black-Haired Girl: Karin, depicted Segal, with a challenging stare, raising a glass of orange juice at the viewer. Buck has created three collage series to date—"Black-Haired Girls," "Heads" and "Blank Slate"—and has also completed two commissioned works. In college, Buck received a 1950 Rolleiflex
Rolleiflex
Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werk. The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier line of medium format twin lens reflex cameras...
camera that had been owned by her great-grandfather and began using it to take pictures. "Self-Centered," a series of black-and-white photographs of herself wearing various articles of clothing in deliberately staged surroundings, was the result. Recently, after a number of years away from school, Buck decided to pursue her interests in narrative filmmaking. She was accepted to the graduate program at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's film school in 2006 and will graduate in film production
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
in 2011.
Works
Buck's collage work tends to traverse the fine line between purely visually representative art and abstract depictions of the personality traits of her subjects. Her black-and-white photograph series, "Self-Centered," is reminiscent of the work of Cindy ShermanCindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman is an American photographer and film director, best known for her conceptual portraits. Sherman currently lives and works in New York City. In 1995, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. She is represented by Sprüth Magers Berlin London in and Metro Pictures gallery in...
, reflecting both Buck's sense of humor and her keen interest in classic film. The black-and-white and color prints of the "Girls On Film" series are both familiar and enigmatic; they are based on the anonymous China Girls
China Girl (film term)
China Girl is a descriptive phrase in the motion picture industry referring to an image of a woman accompanied by color bars that appears for a few frames in the reel leader. A "China Girl" was used by the lab technician for calibration purposes when processing the film...
that used to appear in the leaders of film reels.
Buck's work has been exhibited in galleries in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
; Boston; Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Collage series
- Black-Haired Girls, 1998-2005.
- Heads, 2004
- Blank Slate, 2005.
Photograph series
- Self-Centered, 1999.
- Girls on Film (with Karin Segal), 2005.
Books
- Girls on Film, 2009 (forthcoming).
- Finite Sets, Preacher's Biscuit Books, June 2009. ISBN 0-9767490-8-4
Short films (producer)
- Loop Planes (directed by Robin Wilby)
- Salar (directed by Nicholas Greene)
- Alger, Alger (directed by Aaron Walker)
- Silent Night (directed by Bryan Parker)