Holly Burnham – Jacs Fishburne (2013)

This is my favorite image of Ms. Fishburne; it is painterly, enigmatic and fucking regal as all hell–it gives me chills.

Truthfully, I don’t care for Burnham’s overwrought, hyper-produced aesthetic. But I do find this image incredible. More and more, I think it’s due to Ms. Fishburne.

I am a not a model so I am wary of assuming any sort of understanding of technique or process. Yet, what I see as a mostly failed photographer is as if wildfires were capable of daydreaming and Ms. Fishburne somehow embodies such dreams in the moment the shutter snaps–not at all unlike Toshiro Mifune’s turns as Sanjuro.

In addition to modeling, Ms. Fishburne is a talented photographer, Her work shares a similar tooth and nail determination to remain present and unselfconsciously aware in a moment. (Actually, her images remind me of Traci Matlock & Ashley MacLean’s collaboration as Rose and Olive, only more searching,)

To do this sort of work–let alone to do it well–requires a well-developed, incisive inner life. It’s not exactly a full access backstage pass, but Ms. Fishburne reblogs work she digs/finds inspiring over at The Imaginarium of Jacs Fishburne.

Really anyone with an interest in the intersection of edgy art with pop culture should check it out. (It’s wonderful and I end up <3’ing about ten percent of what she posts.) But what really thrills me about it is seeing the way that the art and artist sees shapes both who they are and the work they go on to make. This is one of the truly mind blowing applications for Tumblr and Ms. Fishburne is out in front, miles ahead of the pack.