Cameraman Sculpture Captures Artists’ Vision
A nearly 7-foot sculpture built out of camera and film-related equipment was unveiled this past Saturday and will now greet people as they enter the Castro Valley Marketplace thanks to a partnership between an Alameda-based artist collective and the Natural Grocery Store.
“Cameraman” is a sculptural collaboration between artists Ed Holmes and Marc Ribaud with sound design by Joe Paulino. A smaller sculpture, Cameradog, was designed by Maria Chenut. The idea for the show began when Holmes and Ribaud decided to create a larger-than-life-size “Cameraman” using Ed’s 45-year-old camera collection and Marc’s engineering genius. The hundreds of cameras date from the 1920s to current camera models. The collection includes a 4×5 view camera, to plastic toy cameras, and everything in between. The artists say they responded to the unique beauty of each camera design.
“Kids love him, especially his eyes that light up, adults all want to talk about how they remember the cameras of their childhood which are sometimes one of the cameras in the collection,” said Natural Grocery Store manager Donna Layburn.
A red box camera becomes the heart, two 1940s film strip projectors become the eyes, and a series of Instamatic cameras become the spine. Recorded shutter sounds create a sonic atmosphere. Next to the Cameraman is his friend Cameradog, a smaller structure comprised of camera cases.
Layburn said the Natural Grocery Store was given the sculpture from her friends at Rhythmix Cultural Works, an artist collective in Alameda that sponsors multicultural music, dance, and visual arts.
After a week of installation and a lot of curious onlookers, Holmes and Ribaud pulled the wraps off Cameraman with the help of Julie Sumiki, president of the Castro Valley Chamber of Commerce.
“It really pops out and is very impressive,” Layburn said. “It was generating a lot of interest and buzz and curious onlookers. Everyone who notices it has to check it out and a lot of people are noticing it. It's really a great asset for the community.”
The sculpture will be housed at the Natural Grocery Store for the foreseeable future. Layburn says she expects to decorate him for Christmas.