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Artist Statement:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Exhibitions:
11/20/07 thru 04/30/08
"Studies From Life Costume and
Object portraits by Timothy G.
Piotrowski" Hennepin History
Museum 2303 3rd Avenue South,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
55404....
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Reviews for Timothy G. Piotrowski:
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For this shoot photographer Timothy Piotrowski was able to use a rare 1905 Franklin automobile. The photograph uses clothing from the early 1900s, but was shot in 2006. (Photo courtesy of Timothy Piotrowski)
View full slideshow (5 total images)
Photographer puts the present in the past
by Marianne Combs, Minnesota Public Radio
December 4, 2007
A Minneapolis artist is giving new life to objects which have sat tucked away on the shelves of a local museum for years.
St. Paul, Minn. — Artist Tim Piotrowski is a period photographer. For years Piotrowski has been taking and printing photographs, inspired by images of women from both the 19th and early 20th centuries. He especially likes poses that might have been risque at the time, but seem wholesome and innocent compared to ads in today's fashion magazines. He uses special paper and printing materials to capture the soft edges and sepia tones of the old pictures.
"Portrait of Miss Caitlin Percy ..."
"If I hit a picture, that even I, after looking at lots of period images, if I hit one that could fool me if I didn't know better, then I really feel like I've done something. It's like my time machine camera."
Often Piotrowski's biggest challenge is finding garments and props to make a complete and accurate picture. So you can imagine Piotrowski's reaction when the Hennepin History Museum in Minneapolis contacted him and asked him if he'd like access to it's historical garment collection.
"I hadn't dared even dream of such a thing as that," says Piotrowski. "I never thought that I'd have an opportunity like this. So when it came up I'd like to say that it's out of my wildest dreams, but it's really not; I hadn't even fantasized about it."
Photographer Timothy Piotrowski
Jada Hansen is executive director of the Hennepin History Museum. She says the museum only gave Piotrowski access to pieces of clothing and other objects that weren't too fragile to be handled or worn. She sees it as a way of extending their value.
"No matter how hard we try to keep them around, no matter what kind of archive boxes we put them in, they simply won't be around forever," says Hansen. "So this does sort of allow them to go forward a little bit, and not just sit in a box and waste away without anybody ever enjoying it."
Hansen says the Hennepin History Museum knew of Piotrowski's work, and they also knew that by day he works as a security guard at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. So they felt comfortable trusting him with pieces from the collection.
Exhibiting period clothing
At a recent photo shoot, Piotrowski guides a hip young 21st century model in how to apply make-up that will make her look like she's from another time. He poses women on chairs, or has them driving period cars. Often they're depicted helping each other dress, as would be common in the Victorian age.
"The biggest challenge with Victorian clothes has been to find sitters small enough for them," says Piotrowski. "They're so small! Some of the shoes I would have needed children to photograph in order to get them on them."
Piotrowski says working with the clothing from the Museum's extensive collection has been an honor, and allowed him to create scenes and images he could never have done if he had to rent all the items from a costumer.
"Forward looking Victorian women 1875"
Hennepin History Museum Curator Jack Kabrud is in large part responsible for the museum's extensive clothing collection. He says the results of the collaboration with photographer Tim Piotrowski has led to great things for both the artist and the museum. "There's a tremendous difference in seeing these beautiful pieces on living people. There's no question about it and it did change my perspective," says Kabrud. "I believe the families that contributed these pieces would be happy to see that they've been used in such a beautiful way to promote our history, their history and art in our community as well."
The exhibition of Tim Piotrowski's photographs runs at the Hennepin History Museum through next spring. The photos have been hung next to displays of the items used in the photographs. Once the exhibit closes, one set of prints will become a part of the museums permanent collection.
Ooh La La!
The haughty, naughty photography of Timothy Piotrowski
Rod Smith
Published on August 10, 2005
Timothy Piotrowski is amply willing to die for his art--just not all at once. "I use this selenium toner," the photographer relates, stooping carefully to add yet another print to the show-and-tell stack already towering in his arms. "It's really nasty stuff, toxic as hell. You're not supposed to touch it or even inhale the fumes. But sometimes I have to sniff it to find out if it's good or not. I know it's gonna take eight years off my life. But the results are worth it."
Timothy Piotrowski
'Alyson at Large' epitomizes the silent-movie drama of Piotrowski's vision
In the big south Minneapolis upper duplex he shares with a friend, those results--Piotrowski's gelatin silver prints--are everywhere, complemented by a far-ranging collection of vintage originals. Framed photos cover every wall. Others, matted and neatly stacked, creep across hardwood floors. Smaller examples, along with cigarette cards, cabinet cards, naughty French postcards, and cartes de visite, lurk nearby. Nearly all celebrate the feminine, often in its most literal form. The brilliant early-evening light pouring through the windows, combined with the place's orderly density, gives it the air of a private museum.
You can't help but suspect that the artist's day gig has rubbed off on him. Senior security officer Piotrowski's 24 years at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts are bound to have provided more than a few preservation and display hints. He met the man he calls his "photography guru," master printer and longtime Robert Frank associate Sid Kaplan, there. Plus, he has the gravity of one charged with protecting rare and valuable materials. (In drag, he'd make a magnificent librarian.) But what his sharp, sandy brush cut and serious demeanor suggest most is a compact, tattooed update of Hjalmar Poelzig, the brilliant Satanist architect played by Boris Karloff in Edgar G. Ulmer's very loose 1934 adaptation of Poe's The Black Cat.
Unlike the fabulously wealthy Poelzig, Piotrowski doesn't have time for devil worship or casual human sacrifice, although he does share the architect's passion for Art Deco. He doesn't even shoot naked chicks exclusively. Reminiscent of Viennese naughtypants nabobs Atelier Manassé's earthier non-nude output, 1930's Hogdini Duo Aerial Cradle Wardrobe finds a member of local burlesque troupe Le Cirque Rouge perched on an upright box in the titular two-piece costume. The subject's hands, poised seductively behind her neck, seem about to unfasten something; her face, half in shadow, bears more than a hint of "Should I go through with this?" ambivalence. The nuanced interplay of light and shade provides the picture's dynamic. But the pulchritude makes for toothsome bait.
"At first, I got friends to model for me," he recalls, "then friends of friends. But I've gotten more particular in terms of matching models to my style. Ninety percent of the time, when you ask a woman if you can take her picture, immediately she thinks 'porn.' You might as well be saying 'Hi, I'm Jeffery Dahmer and I was wondering if I could add your head to the collection I keep in my refrigerator.'"
As he explains, once prospective models see his work, their reservations usually vanish. A stickler for historical detail, Piotrowski maintains a healthy flock of marcel-curled wigs, borrowing or trading costumes and props from local antique dealers. "While it's in a '30s style, there's no telling exactly how old that circus costume is," he notes. "Back then, performers used garments forever, updating them when changes in style demanded."
Given the size of his internal photo lore database, you'd never guess that he's only been at it for six years. Granted, he's been making art of one kind or another--mostly paintings and punk rock--since moving to Minneapolis from Chuck Lindbergh birthplace Little Falls in 1980. Like many local artists, he even attended MCAD briefly.
"In my second year," he says, "I had the opportunity to travel with a girlfriend to Europe, so I cashed out my student loan. Best decision I ever made in my life."
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