{"id":5204,"date":"2013-05-31T15:16:28","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T22:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=5204"},"modified":"2013-09-05T10:30:01","modified_gmt":"2013-09-05T17:30:01","slug":"santa-barbara-spotlight-photographer-patricia-houghton-clarke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=5204","title":{"rendered":"Santa Barbara Spotlight: Photographer Patricia Houghton Clarke"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Leslie Dinaberg<\/strong> (originally appeared on the Santa Barbara SEASONS Blog<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Despite her lifelong fascination with light, shapes and colors\u2014not to mention an impressive list of awards and exhibitions, both internationally and closer to her hometown of Santa Barbara\u2014photographer Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/strong><\/a> has only been focused on photography for a short time.<\/p>\n

\""I<\/a>

“I Love You,” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

“I’ve been photographing all along, but really only started taking it seriously about ten years ago, where I was producing bodies of work and starting to show my work,” says Clarke, whose ready smile and approachable style surely does wonders to put her subjects at ease.<\/p>\n

\"ON<\/a>

“On the Question of Wonder,” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

Not to say she didn’t have a camera in hand before that.<\/p>\n

\"SLOANE<\/a>

“Sloane Ranger,” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

“During a Trans-Africa trip in 1974, I had this little Kodak Instamatic<\/a> and I remember just looking around me and thinking, ‘I wish I could get my eyes to be transmitting.’ It was such a strong thought. ‘I wish I could transmit this. How would I transmit this?’ This was 1974. So years later when I’m looking at my body of work I’m thinking it was the camera. It was always the camera.”<\/p>\n

\"Family<\/a>

“Family Tree,” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

She smiles, “It’s so funny \u2026 as it’s turned out that’s exactly what that is for me. It’s my way of transmitting either what I’m seeing or feeling about what I’m experiencing.\u2026 When I finally got really serious with my photographic work, it was like wow, then turning around and finding out that your best friend was really your love\u2014it was like okay, you’re the one.<\/p>\n

\"pc_US_01212_fam_D-6626-17\"<\/a>

Photo by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

“It wasn’t painting, it wasn’t drawing; it was this. But it took those steps.<\/p>\n

\"Graciela<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
“Graciela con Cholla” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
“I had this amazing aha moment. \u2026 I always knew that my grandfather was an amateur photographer but I never saw his work.\u2026 When I started showing my work, my dad told me that his father had been a photographer and (my dad) had also been a photographer. I didn’t know that.”<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Uccia,<\/a>

“Uccia, Italy 2011” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

When she finally saw her grandfather’s work, it was jarring. “There were so many photographs that I literally had shot the same shot. The perspective was the same; the way the light worked was the same.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Faithful;<\/a>

“Faithful; Martignano, Italy 2010” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

In fact, in 2008, when curator\u00a0Brett Leigh Dicks<\/a>\u00a0(also an accomplished photographer in his own right) put together “Sentimento: immagini d\u2019Italia\/Homage to my Grandfather”<\/strong>\u00a0at\u00a0Art Resources gallery<\/a>, Clarke displayed her grandfather\u00a0Herbert Houghton Clarke’s<\/strong>\u00a0work alongside her own.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Cuchillo,<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
“Cuchillo, 2010” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

“I always think, is that cellular? Isn’t that weird? I’m the third in the line and I didn’t even know it. It wasn’t like I was raised with photography and so I did it,” she says.<\/p>\n

\"pc_ibla_chairvirgin\"<\/a>

Photo by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

In terms of subject matter, Clarke’s interests run the gamut from turning her sensitive lens to the outwardly dazzling (her 2011 show “Erasing Lines<\/strong>,” at\u00a0Wall Space Gallery<\/a>\u00a0showcased the transgender drag community and was also a benefit for\u00a0Pacific Pride Foundation<\/a>) to the quietly reflective (“On the Question of Wonder<\/strong>,” a 2012 show at\u00a0Santa Barbara Tennis Club<\/a>, explored the quiet places inside each of us). Travel is also a constant: the 2011 exhibition “Comunione<\/strong>,” on the Piazza della Repubblica in Martignano, Italy, explores just one of Clarke’s many adventures abroad with her camera.<\/p>\n

\"Schroderstrasse<\/a>

“Schroderstrasse 10” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

That camera, by the way, is often a $15 toy\u00a0Holga<\/a>, which was the case with her photo feature for the summer issue of SEASONS, exploring\u00a0A New View of Old Spanish Days: Through the Lens of Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"pc_TH_0610_F0065.tif\"<\/a>

Photo by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

Those magical\u2014and refreshingly unique\u2014images of one of Santa Barbara’s most photographed festivals were partly a result of Clarke’s concentrated effort to document not just her travels but the joys and traditions here in the town that’s been her home since she was a teenager.<\/p>\n

\"Twi-Light,<\/a>

“Twi-Light, Berlin Mitte” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

“I\u2019m really committed to photographing my own culture and sort of seeing it the way I would see a culture that I am foreign to,” says Clarke.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"pc_Puppetier_Roma\"<\/a>

Photo by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

A vegetarian since she was 17, she admits that her first foray to the rodeo took some getting used to.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m watching the rodeo thinking, wow this is tough to watch, and then I thought you know you can’t ever judge what you’re looking at when you’re photographing it. You have to be just completely nonjudgmental \u2026 or you’re not just an open channel to the images. … I was watching the rodeo and feeling uncomfortable about it and I thought just let it go\u2014and it actually really affected my photography,” says Clarke.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>

“Two Men, Two Women” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

“I remember the moment really well. It was like you’ve got to let that go, you can’t put your own filter on top of whatever you’re looking at. It’s been that way for me all the time when I shoot. It was one of those kind of aha kind of moments, because I shoot foreign cultures a lot\u2014so it was cool to put it in this context.”<\/p>\n

\"Rainbow\"<\/a>

“Rainbow” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to her artistic work\u2014which if forced to categorize it, she labels\u00a0fine art documentary photography<\/strong>\u2014Clarke also recently started a small side business of portrait photography called\u00a0Your Best Shot\u00a0<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>

“Dallas Loves Amber” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

That business came from years of looking at people’s pictures online, she says, and just thinking, “it’s so sad people don’t have much opportunity to get a good picture. So I’m doing that right now because I love portraiture and it’s kind of a fun way to connect with people.”<\/p>\n

\"CROSSING<\/a>

“Crossing Paths” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

At a recent portrait session with her good friend and fellow photographer\u00a0Jesse Alexander<\/a>, Clarke says he saw a different side of her. “He and I are really good friends, and I’ve been wanting to take his portrait for a long time. \u2026 I started working and he sort of went ‘whoa, you get really serious,'” she laughs.<\/p>\n

\"pcphotog-02.tif\"<\/a>

Photo by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

“I guess I do. You just click into a different thing \u2026 if you’re shooting a wedding or something, you’re not participating, you’re in another world. Your mind is in more of an alpha state, so you can’t really communicate.”<\/p>\n

\"Andaman<\/a>

“Andaman Sea, Thailand” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

She continues, “Now that I look back, I realize that all of my memories, my really strong memories, are associated with light. I was just talking to my mom about this the other day, that if something really significant happened I could tell you where the light was coming in the room and how it lit things and stuff. So it’s just how I’ve been seeing all my life but I didn’t really put that together until now.”<\/p>\n

\n
\"PHU<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
“PHU SI, Luan Prabang” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\"In<\/a>

“In Case of Emergency” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Rhapsody<\/a>

“Rhapsody in Blue” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

\"pc_TH_0610_F0065.tif\"<\/a>

Photo by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

\"pc_TH_0610_F0064-2\"<\/a>

Photo by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

“The Conversation” by Patricia Houghton Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Photographer

Photographer Patricia Houghton Clarke (courtesy photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

For more information about Patricia Houghton Clarke and her current work on exhibition, visit her website, patriciahoughtonclarke.com<\/strong><\/a>. To view her current story in Santa Barbara SEASONS<\/a>, click here<\/a>.\u00a0In addition, her work is permanently on view at the restaurant Cadiz<\/strong> (509 State St., 805\/770-2760, cadizsb.com<\/a>), where there will be an artist’s reception with a portion of the proceeds to benefit Old Spanish Days<\/a> on June 4 from 5:30\u20137:30 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

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