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HULLS: The Art of Decay in San Francisco Bay
by Jan Tiura – SF’s First Female Tugboat Captain
Photographed from the unique and dynamic vantage point of a tugboat’s deck - Jan Tiura’s HULLS is an up-close character study of working vessels from around the world by the first female tugboat captain in San Francisco Bay history.
During a career that has spanned 35 years as a US Coast Guard-licensed tugboat captain, Tiura has driven every type of tug from dinky single-screw tugs to towering pusher boats with enough horsepower to tow Alcatraz off its moorings.
From Tiura’s vantage point on her tugboat’s deck, lines, shapes and colors take on a painterly quality in her images. Through them, Tiura examines the intersection of form, function and the fury of the sea.
“Photographing from a working tug has allowed me to explore my fascination with vessels, a fascination which stems from a childhood spent living next to the sea and feeling its pull,” says Tiura. “Although I have photographed hulls throughout my maritime career, it was the advent of small, high-quality and consumer-grade digital cameras that finally allowed me to capture these images on the Bay while operating my tug.
Now, for the first time, these images are on display together as custom-printed photographs – collaboratively prepared by Tiura and Seth Dickerman. Together, these two artists transformed a series of low-resolution files into large-format exhibition prints of the highest quality: a testament what one can create using modern photographic technology.
Dickerman Prints Gallery will host a public opening reception for HULLS on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at 3180 17th Street, San Francisco. The exhibition will be open on weekdays through December 11, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
To see more of Jan Tiura's's work, please visit www.phototiura.com.
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Dickerman Prints Gallery
3180 17th St, San Francisco
Open Monday - Friday
10am-6pm
Dickerman Prints Gallery features a evolving collection of work by world-renowned photographers as well as emerging artists in the heart of San Francisco's Mission district.
Previous shows have included personal portraits of music icons by Rolling Stone photographer Baron Wolman, views of outsourced and abandoned spaces by Henrik Kam, abstract seascapes from the Sonoma Coast by Jamie McHugh, a 200 Yards group show by 15 local artists and a provocative post-apocolyptic vision of our society's possible future by Anthony Kurtz.
All photos exhibited at Dickerman Prints Gallery are created on-site using either a Polilettronica LaserLab or Epson Stylus Pro 11880 printer.
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Artist Biography
Born in Berkeley and raised on the San Mateo County coast , Jan Tiura learned the rudiments of photography in high school. Although she had photographed throughout her maritime career, with the advent of the small, high-quality, digital camera she was finally able to capture work on the bay while operating her tug.
After sailing a small yawl to the Galapagos Islands (the return leg of the voyage took 51 days—non-stop from Academy Bay to San Francisco) Jan jokingly says that she was ruined for indoor work. She found work as a deckhand and quickly rose through the ranks to captain.
Tiura is a USCG licensed tugboat captain with more than thirty years as a professional mariner. She has driven every type of tug from dinky single-screw tugs, to towering pusher boats, ocean-going brutes with enough horsepower to tow Alcatraz off its moorings, and now, tractor tugs—the ballerinas of the maritime industry. Currently, Captain Tiura drives tugs for Starlight Marine Services, Alameda, assisting container ships and oil tankers to the ports of the Bay.
Tiura’s first collection THE HEART OF THE BAY consists of 30 photographs of working vessels shot from the vantage of her tugboat. First exhibited at the World Trade Club of San Francisco in 2006.
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