Andrew Bush was born in Saint Louis and after attending Pomona College he
received his MFA from Yale University. He has lived in Los Angeles for over
twenty years, and has exhibited with Julie Saul Gallery since 1984. Bush
has worked in a variety of formats, subjects, and mediums for more than
twenty years with a concentration on the theme of identity as defined by
possessions. He completed his first project entitled "Bonnettstown Hall"
in 1984, a record of an 18th century Irish Georgian country manor occupied
by the same Protestant family for many generations. The large format color
pictures utilizing only natural light began as his master's thesis project
at Yale. When published in 1989 as a monograph by Abrams, these images,
magical in their stillness, details and light, became an inspiration to
a whole generation of documentary photographers.
Bush's move to Los Angeles in 1985 initiated a dramatic transformation-he began a project called Vector Portraits using still images and video (the equipment mounted on the passenger side of his car) photographing drivers on the L.A. freeways, their portraits framed by the car window and the surrounding landscape. These drivers, either lost in reverie or interacting with the other passengers, form a series of great American portraits. Although not at all formally apparent, the vector portraits led to Bush's next series. Envelopes. Produced since the early 1990s, the works are one to one scale images of all kinds of envelopes; new, old, in all shapes and sizes, which are placed in antique photographic printing frames. The Prop Portraits series, shown in 2000, was shot with his usual large format camera in the flea markets of Los Angeles. Produced as large-scale Epson color prints, his subjects were selected from the market crowd and shot posed before a semitransparent scrim holding the objects they selected. These people are thereby situated temporarily in a private space, their purchases or props becoming a trophy of their identity and passage through life. Most recently Bush has completed a documentary project on Derrida's library.
Bush's move to Los Angeles in 1985 initiated a dramatic transformation-he began a project called Vector Portraits using still images and video (the equipment mounted on the passenger side of his car) photographing drivers on the L.A. freeways, their portraits framed by the car window and the surrounding landscape. These drivers, either lost in reverie or interacting with the other passengers, form a series of great American portraits. Although not at all formally apparent, the vector portraits led to Bush's next series. Envelopes. Produced since the early 1990s, the works are one to one scale images of all kinds of envelopes; new, old, in all shapes and sizes, which are placed in antique photographic printing frames. The Prop Portraits series, shown in 2000, was shot with his usual large format camera in the flea markets of Los Angeles. Produced as large-scale Epson color prints, his subjects were selected from the market crowd and shot posed before a semitransparent scrim holding the objects they selected. These people are thereby situated temporarily in a private space, their purchases or props becoming a trophy of their identity and passage through life. Most recently Bush has completed a documentary project on Derrida's library.
Prop Portraits 1999-2000 [view images]
Envelopes 1993-2004 [view images]
Snorter 1993-1998 [view images]
Vector 1982-1983 [view images]
Bonnettstown 1982-1983 [view images]