3 Questions for cover artist Jeffrey Eaton
Jeffrey Eaton took this month’s cover image, “West Unity Road,” in late December. A longtime friend and contributor to Open Letters, Jeff’s striking landscapes lead off our April and November issues from 2007. His 2008 review Two From No Tell Books digs into poetry by Shafer Hall and P.F. Potvin and his recent essay Raging Bull recasts the Library of America’s Debate on the Constitution Night of the Comet psp volumes in a uniquely contemporary light.
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OL:
From a different angle or a slightly altered spot, West Unity Road wouldn’t be half the picture it is. (The title seems almost ironic, it being a picture of at least as much sky as road — as contrasted with your Fort Tabor pic from last year). What kind of decisions did you make when framing the shot? did you take lots of them, or just the one? |
Jeffrey: The sky is the central element of the picture, but it was the road that initially drew me to take out the camera. I particularly like that stretch of road because the stubborn Yankee farmer whose farm stretches across it fought to keep telephone poles from being installed on it. I don’t know if he had a rationale aside from being an old coot, but he did succeed at preserving an aesthetically beautiful section of rural road. The utility company ended up putting the poles through the woods to cut around his property, rather than fight him.
I usually take many pictures around a single idea, but in this case I was driving and not by myself, so I only had time to take two. The composition is mostly what I was going after, though I think the final product is unbalanced. A little more time (or a slightly wider lens) would have helped give the road some more margin on the right.
OL: Was the picture inspired by current events? The big Obama/Hillary rally, say?
Jeffrey:
Forbidden Planet the movie It’s true that this is the New Hampshire town where Obama and Hillary buried the hatchet in June, but it’s also the town where my aunt and uncle live. I can honestly say there is no intentional political content to this picture. That is, unless the Obama team thinks the sky represents our hope for the future and the road is the path out of the current economic depression, in which case I will sell it to them at a firesale price.
OL: You weren’t always such an accomplished photographer… at some point, you picked up a camera and began to take it more seriously. Were you surprised by your own interest in the art, or in how much satisfaction it gave you? What’s surprised you most about the clicking life?
Jeffrey: I’ve always enjoyed taking pictures, but it wasn’t until the digital camera that I could see it as a hobby. To get good pictures you have to take a lot of pictures, and I have no use for zillions of prints. Film photography is also unappealing because much of the output is determined by the settings on your local CVS’s one-hour photo machine. At the time I got my first digital camera, I also started taking lessons in Photoshop which gives digital photographers a lot of post-shutter control over white balance, exposure and other settings.
| I do find photography very satisfying, and the most challenging thing is keeping it in check. I try not to be the guy who is inseparable from his camera, always living life from behind the lens. In this regard I err on the side of not bringing the camera along, even if it means missing a few opportunities. |  |
For me, taking pictures with an artistic intent (as opposed to snapshots) is too much of a solo enterprise to be compatible with sociability. Going out to shoot by myself is generally the most satisfying, though those are not necessarily the times I take my best pictures. Good pictures can happen at any time.
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