Diving into "Float"

“Float” is an upcoming exhibit of photographs in Winter Haven by one of my favorite emerging Florida artists, my brother James Kilby. I admit I am biased, but I truly believe he is extremely talented and I am excited to see him finally get this show of his fine art off the ground. James has taught me a great deal about photography and I am better at what I do because of his patient teaching.

Slide of young James at Silver Springs

James, an Aquarian, has always loved the water. I have early memories of him taking swimming lessons in Gainesville, the kind where they take toddlers and simply throw them in the water. In high school he made the the trek from Gainesville to the Atlantic to surf and as an adult in Central Florida he took up wake boarding and later wake skating. He moved to Winter Haven from Orlando to live in a community surrounded by a chain of lakes. It seems natural that his first body of solo work prominently features water. The meaning of "Float" is not superficial and to understand the statement the artist is making, takes delving below the surface a bit. That was my intent with this Q&A:

Q: I remember dad taking a photography class and turning our bathroom into a darkroom. The black and white images he took are some of my favorite family photos. Do you think his interest in photography had anything to do with you becoming a photographer?

A: Dad’s interest in photography certainly shaped mine. I was told as a child not to play with his darkroom equipment hidden in the bathroom, so of course I’d lock the door and pull it all out. I was also very interested in projecting slides and the impact an image could have when it was magnified and projected – most everyone did it at the time. As well the parents sent me as a child to a summer class at the museum where I did very well. But it was a teacher in high school who really taught me the core foundations.

Even in land-locked Gainesville, James found water.
Photo from our father's "Black and White" photography period.

Q: When did you first decide to go back to school to photography full time? Not many people have the guts to quit a good job with full benefits to become a full-time student - were you nervous going back to school at an older age?

A: I had seen “American Beauty", "Office Space", and "True Stories” in the span of one week and realized how discontent I was with corporate America and that I had no real excuse not to pursue photography. Truth be told, I was more nervous about having to retake the math classes more than anything else.

Q: Where else has your work been shown?

A: My work has been shown: Southeast Museum of Photography (Daytona), Gallery 17 (Daytona), Ormond Museum and Memorial Gardens (Ormond), Stetson Fine Arts Gallery (Deland), Art Haus (Port Orange), Nude Nite (Orlando), and several now defunct galleries in metro Orlando.

Q: I know that the work in this show is a reaction to the growth going on in Winter Haven and how it effects the lakes there, could you elaborate on this?

A: All my friends swim and recreate in Lake Summit in Winter Haven. It’s where we gather and it is the starting point for many long wonderful days up and down the Winter Haven Chain of lakes. The water quality has become bad just three lakes up on Lake Shipp. They have posted no swimming signs due to run-off entering the lake. The next lake over (Lake Lulu) is the only buffer right now between Lake Shipp and Lake Summitt and it is the site of the new mega strip mall which will have a huge impact on Lake Lulu. After that is Lake Eloise and then Lake Summit – so what is going to stop the spoilage? Are we going to be the change that saves these lakes or is Winter Haven doomed to be the next Leesburg?
(Note the Harris chain of Lakes in Leesburg has been contaminated from Lake Apopka.)

Before and after: Winter Haven's iconic Citrus Showcase
building is demolished to build a shopping plaza.
Top image from State Archives of Florida. Bottom image courtesy of Stacey Reid.

Q: I know that my perspective about the environment has been strongly shaped by living on a lake, in fact I consider myself a tree-hugging environmentalist from my own lakefront living experience. What do you think shaped your view of the environment?

A: My view of the environment was shaped by growing up near the woods, spending my childhood along the St Johns River, and a desire to always reside near water. Currently I reside on Lake Ned which is a body of work I continue to work on. Sadly it too is now in trouble as aquatic weeds like hydrilla have changed the lake’s fragile balance.

Lake Ned

Q: What is your favorite place in Florida?

A: My favorite stretch of Florida is A1A from Ormond Beach to St. Augustine. My favorite town is St. Augustine but I have favorite spots all over – with such a diverse state, it is hard to pick.

Q: How did you select the models in “Float”?

A: I pulled my models from all over the place. I did a casting, I used friends of friends, and relied on some old favorites that I thought were right for the project.


Q: Some of the images have a gracefulness to them, while others are more gritty. Was that deliberate or just something that occurred organically?

A: Before I shot each model I asked them all the same question. “If you could change one thing in your life and not resist that change but float gracefully towards it – what would that look like?” Now the great thing about this project is that once they were in the water they could not hear anything but the sound of their own thoughts – they were never directed so what you get is their response to that question. I would show them the work prior to committing to it so they knew what they were in for.

Q: Most of the work is processed in cool, de-saturated tones that give the models a surreal almost ghastly appearance. Others are processed in warmer tones that make the water look almost muddy. What determined how you processed the images?

A: The images were processed by mood. I would take my experience of shooting them and process the images on how I felt they would do with the impermanence in their lives. I did however take total artistic license in this selection.


Q: I know you have been working on this collection of images for some time, what inspired you?

A: “Float” like many projects was born out of another one – a mixed media piece I did called “Swing Set Release” in which I attached a vintage slip to balloons and let it float away. I shot that at the same spot where I did all of the shooting for float. In the back of my mind were some images I had seen by an illustrator/painter that I liked named Jeannie Maddox… though my work is in no way like hers.

Q: If there is one impression or feeling you wanted the audience to come away with from the show, what would it be?

A: If you walk away feeling anything from looking at this work, then I did my job. That to me is art – anything that makes you feel something. No matter what!

Q: Do you have a favorite image?

A: My favorite shot is of my ballet dancer friend Becky and it is just a simple shot of her head breaking the surface of the water. When I saw that image it looked to me what I had been after all along.



Q: Who are your favorite artists/influences?

A: The big influences in my life are Steve Beaudet, Shayne Soderstrom, and Freddie Dejesus. Famous artists I admire include David Lynch, David Byrne, Gregory Crewdson, Robert Rauschenburg, and Edward Hopper.

Edward Hopper 1882-1967, New York Interior, ca. 1921.

Q: What are you going to do next?

A: My next body of work is currently evolving but it will again be very Polk County. I had done a shoot with a band at night in the orange grooves and loved the studio look that the nighttime gave me – mixed with the organic feel of the trees. Here’s a hint – “Tomato Workers Fasting in Front of Publix Headquarters”…

From the Float press release:
Tapping the Vine of Winter Haven is proud to feature the first solo show of Florida artist James Grant Kilby. The exhibit, featuring emotive fine art photography, will run from 20 April until 20 July 2012. A free reception will be held with the artist on 20 April 2012 at seven PM. The opening will feature live entertainment and food.

Float is Kilby’s new body of work shot on Winter Haven’s Lake Summit in the shadow of the newly opened theme park, Legoland Florida. Kilby uses this backdrop to represent the precarious balance of the lake’s eco-system and foreshadow the detrimental environmental impact of development being made on this historic chain of lakes. Themes of impermanence and its effect on the human condition runs as a common thread through out the work. The concept of how we all deal with change as humans is a central theme.

James Grant Kilby is an industrious commercial photographer/artist that relocated to Winter Haven in 2005. A graduate of the Southeastern Center for Photographic Studies and former employee of the Southeastern Museum of Photography, Kilby has exhibited in galleries and museums in Central Florida and the East Coast.

Unless noted, all work © 2012 James Grant Kilby

A bit of Florida kitsch bites the dust

I saw this posted by roadside superstar Debra Jane Seltzer this morning, the news that the odd "Orange Bird" that used to reside along A1A in St. Johns County has met his demise. According to the blog post by realtor Barbara Jenness, a developer foreclosed on the property and demolished the strange orange monolith without any warning. Had I know it was in jeopardy, I might have tried nominate it to the Society for Commercial Archeology's Falling By The Wayside list to earn some publicity to try generate some public will to save the roadside icon.

I first learned of the big fella when my brother photographed it for one of our Florida Roadside Retro calendars back in 2002. According to the AIA website, the orange bird was created by Aramand Fischetti in 1982 to go outside his roadside produce stand. His big orange body was created when a buoy found at nearby Marineland was filed with concrete. Supposedly it was modeled after an Orange Blossom Honey logo, but roadside historian Tim Hollis thinks it was a take off of Disney's Florida Orange Bird.

Disney's Florida Orange Bird

In a state ruled by developers that have given more and more free reign to do as they please, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when a beloved roadside icon or a bit of precious natural habitat falls under the blade of a bulldozer. But as someone who believes that the offbeat and the quirkiness of Florida are what make living here interesting and ever-surprising, I'm deeply saddened to see it go. I won't be surprised to see a convenience store or strip mall on that site in the near future. So it goes in Florida.

A different way of seeing

If I had my druthers, I would spend my days driving around the state, exploring cool historic places and taking pictures for great blog posts. But I haven't figured out a way to make a living at that, and honestly I like the taking pictures part a whole lot more than the writing part. Closer to home, I have always been equally fulfilled mentoring kids; I have no children of my own and I like the feeling that I may be having a positive impact in a young person's life. So this past weekend when I chaperoned a dozen teenagers at a regional church camp in Fruitland Park, Florida I decided I would try to find interesting things to photograph from what was available at the camp.

Much of my time was spent in an old gym, and the light coming in through the dirty windows was very inspiring. I don't normally photograph people, preferring architecture and just about anything vintage, but there wasn't much else to shoot.

I also took pictures during meal times, and the kids contributed to the creative energy.

This was actually the concept of one of the talented teens

My brother the photographer has been encouraging me to take my camera off the automatic settings and I have been giving it a try, even though I really don't know what I'm doing. In some cases I get lucky and am really happy for the results. My brother specializes in shooting people, and I have a great deal of appreciation for how good he is at it. So it was interesting for me to approach subject matter he excels at to see if I could do anything with it. I am fortunate to have my own patient photography mentor. I think much of photography (or any art) is having the courage to take creative risks, and I am slowly becoming more comfortable trying new things.

The positive energy of these kids is contagious and I think today's youth get a bad rap. While being a teenager is never easy, these kids have a whole lot more information than I did at their age. It's fun to live in their world for a brief bit of time and see the world through their eyes.

Next weekend I hope to get out and shoot some of the subject matter I am more familiar with. Perhaps I can take a little bit of last weekend with me.

I also found some appealing subject matter in the gym that wasn't people

Winter Park's Langford Resort Hotel

At mid-century, the fabulous hi-rise beach resorts of Miami were known for hosting celebrities, having exotic nightclubs and creating detailed interiors to amaze their guests. The closest Central Florida can come to matching that phenomena would have been the Langford Resort Hotel, formerly of Winter Park.

Robert E. Langford built the Langford Apartments in 1949 and the hotel a couple years later. Coming from the hotel business in Chicago, the Langford family purchased land in Winter Park during the Depression. In an essay about the hotel written by Mr. Langford, he describes building the hotel:

"I traveled around Florida with my architect checking out the design of other hotels. I told the architect I wanted to get away from the straight symmetrical-type hotel building. We decided to build around the trees... I wanted to keep the tropical effect.

I traveled the world a couple times. A lot of my ideas came from those trips. For instance, the balconies on the front of the hotel was my idea... When we were working up our plans for the swimming pool, my architect wanted to place the pool in the parking lot, but I said, 'No, people like to look at the water.'

We had diving boards, Olympic divers came from all over to practice in our pool. There were two instructors here from Hungary who taught and gave lessons. We had water ballets, shows and contests."

Their rack brochure states: "With an ambiance of quaint European inns, the Langford Resort Hotel is like a tropical oasis nestled in the fashionable Winter Park district of Orlando."

The hotel became a cherished Central Florida institution until it closed in 2000. My brother and I were mesmerized by the property and its incredible bar, the Del Prado Lounge, named after the Langford's Chicago hotel. Langford describes the decor of the bar saying:

"The tile we selected came from Puerto Rico. The top of the bar came form Mexico. I like murals, and I enjoyed decorating."

The eclectic style had elements from a little bit of everything; tiki, Native American, pirate, Spanish, Southwest... you name it. Cannons and anchors surrounded the pool. A Japanese Torii marked the entrance to the spa. Mermaids decorated the bathrooms. Backlit can can girls graced the walls of the conference room. The entire space was a delight for the eyes. And the eclectic group of people who hung out there just added to the ambiance.

As my brother began studying to become a professional photographer, he turned his lens to the Langford and chronicled the legendary property, the staff and its loyal patrons, through the very last day of operation. Following are some of his photos documenting that period of time. The property was demolished to make way for condos and has sat vacant for almost nine years. Just last week, however, it was announced that Rollins College had purchased the property to build, you guessed it, another hotel.

Images by Kilby Photo

If you have Langford memories you'd like to share, join the I Miss The Langford group on Facebook.

Wheel Orlando

The flat screen TV at the gym was tuned to Wheel of Fortune, and as the contestants were introduced I noticed some familiar type behind them. The long-running game show is in Orlando filming at SeaWorld and the giant video wall behind the contestants projected the facade of the Orlando Train Station during the opening segment of the show. Ironically enough, the train station is right across the street from my gym. The backdrop image was carefully masked so as to not show the two towers that are in bad need of restoration. Aside from an image of Shingle Creek, the only other image of "real" Orlando shown in the background was Orlando's Leu Gardens. I'll save that topic for a future blog.

Image by Kilby Photo

Train Station Treasure

Once again, our state legislature has a big decision to make about Florida's future. This time the issue before them is light rail proposed to ease Central Florida's traffic gridlock. Last time this came up, the issue was defeated by a legislator from Leesburg who didn't want more freight cars rolling through her town and the powerful lobby for the state's attorneys who didn't like provisions in the bill that would prevent lawsuits. The Sentinel is doing a series this week on the challenges faced to the bill and today issued an editorial in favor of moving ahead with the project.

In the print edition, the editorial is illustrated with a rendering of Orlando's Health's commuter stop with Orlando's 1927 train station in the background. Orlando Health is what used to be known as ORMC, a complex of healthcare facilities just south of downtown.

Our train station is one of the most significant buildings in Orlando. Patterned after the mission-type train stations in the Southwest, our train station is remarkably similar to the station I saw in Albuquerque this fall. Created to appeal to the influx of Northerners disembarking in Florida in the '20s, the station is noted for its "arcade, prominent parapet arrangement, and flanking bell towers" according to Orlando History in Architecture, a 1984 book created by the City's Historic Preservation Board.

I had never really explored the station until a recent photo shoot with my brother. It is great building with lots of charm but it has really fallen into disrepair. The decay is well-documented in this blog by Chris Gent. It would be a tragedy if this remarkable facility were to be lost, for Orlando has so few iconic historic structures. I'm in favor of the light rail bill, if only to save our beautiful train station.

Photos by Kilby Photo

Shameless plug

At a social gathering last night, someone asked me about a link to a website posted on my Facebook page. It was a link to my brother's photography website and the person I was addressing was really impressed with his work. I have mentioned and shown his photography in previous blogs, but I think it's time for a blatant plug. 

My brother taught me a tremendous amount about photography. He taught me about how important light is and if you shoot at the wrong time, you'll end up with a bland image. He understands technology better than anyone I know, and in this digital age that is critical for a photographer. And he is incredibly patient and bold, going places I'd never go to get the shot. But most of all he pushes his work constantly, never settling for mediocrity.