Photographer Hugh Kretschmer is, above all, interested in ideas, and it’s this passion for ideas that is the theme running through an exhibition of his 30-plus year career that opened September 10th at the Hoban Artrium Museum, in Gwangmyeong-si, South Korea. It’s an extensive look at a body of work that is decidedly conceptual in nature, whether he is working for editorial or advertising clients or creating for himself.
Throughout his career, Hugh has always thought of himself as a “photo-illustrator,” an artist who clients have trusted to convey their most complex stories. Hugh began by creating many of his still-life constructions for editorial clients who were accustomed to allowing artists to develop their own solutions. His advertising projects are more collaborative in nature, so he is often involved in the early development stages of a project. In either case, he begins with a rough sketch that enables him to create a sort of blueprint for the execution of his idea, but also helps in creating the lighting, styling, and color choices. It is his roadmap that’s him at every phase of the project to ensure the best possible outcome.
You might assume judging by the nature of these images that they are heavily digitized, but Hugh told us, “I don’t rely on it as much as you would think, but consider it just another tool I use. I strive to capture as much as I can in-camera, minimizing using post-production processes. And, it’s because I started working in the days of film that my images look the way they do. They aren’t perfect and that’s what I like about them. Someone once called them, ‘perfectly imperfect,’ and I take that as a big compliment.” A case in point is his personal project, “Plastic Waves.” It’s one of his projects that benefits a non-profit devoted to water conservation through gallery print and book sales. It’s these types of projects that are steering him closer to a career devoted primarily to fine art photography.
The exhibit runs from September 10, 2021 through May, 15, 2022 and is the first solo show in the museum’s history. There are fifteen galleries, each featuring carefully curated portfolios by the museum curator, Cecilia Jo. Planned are an interactive station, a media room, a special series created especially for the exhibit, and even a recreation of Kretschmer’s studio in one of the galleries.
