“As actual space is increasingly made to resemble virtual constructions, so too does the virtual become more real. People go on about computer graphics and simulation programs achieving an ever greater degree of realism, but I think it is not because the programs are getting better at emulating the world but because the real world is increasingly based on these programs.”
Stephen Haley. ‘Place into Space’. Melbourne: Nellie Castan Gallery, 2008, p. 19. Exhibition catalogue.
Linda Connor (American, b. 1944)
Prayer Flag and Chortens, Ladakh, India 1988
1988
Silver gelatin print
Connor’s photographs reveal the essence of her subjects, yielding a sense of timelessness while visually evoking the intangible. She uses a distinctive technique. A large-format view camera allows her to achieve remarkable clarity and rich detail. Her prints are created by direct contact of the 8 x 10-inch negative on printing out paper, exposed and developed using sunlight …
Connor embraces a wide range of subject matter, connecting the physical and the spiritual world. Just as sacred art evokes deep meaning even without an explicit understanding, Connor hopes her photographs serve a similar metaphorical function. Upon entering Chartres Cathedral, for example, one feels transported into another realm, regardless of religious beliefs. Connor’s images share this transformative nature as they transcend the boundaries of subject, culture, and time. She brings an equal amount of attention to a rock in the desert as she does when she photographs a temple.
Text from the Phoenix Art Museum website
Many thankx to the Phoenix Art Museum for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.
Linda Connor (American, b. 1944)
Windows and Thangkas, Ladakh
1988
Silver gelatin print
Linda Connor (American, b. 1944)
Library of Prayer Books, Ladakh, India
1988
Silver gelatin print
Linda Connor is an American photographer who photographs spiritual and exotic locations including India, Mexico, Thailand, Ireland, Peru, and Nepal. Her photographs appear in a number of books, including Spiral Journey, a catalog of her exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in 1990 and Odyssey: Photographs by Linda Connor, published by Chronicle Books in 2008. Connor was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1976 and 1988 and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1979. Connor’s work is included in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Linda Connor (American, b. 1944)
Portal Figures, Chartres Cathedral, France
1989
Silver gelatin print
Linda Connor (American, b. 1944)
Mudra, Mindroling Monastery, Tibet
1993
Silver gelatin print
Linda Connor (American, b. 1944)
Blind Musician, Kashmir, India
1985
Silver gelatin print
Linda Connor (American, b. 1944)
Apollo, Mt. Nemrut, Turkey
1992
Silver gelatin print
Doris and John Norton Gallery for the Center for Creative Photography, Phoenix Art Museum
1625 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Opening hours:
Wednesday 10am – 9pm
Thursday – Sunday 10am – 5pm
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson
27th March – 21st June 2009
Art Blart _ art and cultural memory archive 
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