Douglas Bornn Photographs: An Exploration of Train Cars and Graffiti

The Art Gallery of Sudbury is pleased to be opening an exhibition by Douglas Bornn titled DOUGLAS BORNN PHOTOGRAPHS: An Exploration of Train Cars and Graffiti.

This exhibition will consist of a series of photographs that explores the relationship between the train cars, graffiti, colours and lighting. “The subject of this recent series of photographs would appear to be train graffiti, and initially it was. It changed when I started looking and thinking about a particular photo I had taken and realized that there was more going on in this image than just a simple record of graffiti. I had moved in to take a closer view including little more than the elements of the painted image that I was interested in. Once at the computer I found that I had a photograph that integrated the graffiti and the train car allowing them to play one against the other” described Douglas Bornn.

Bornn began exhibiting his photography in the early 1980s by sending his works to various calls for submissions for Northern Ontario artists. His work has appeared in several group exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Sudbury (formerly known as the Laurentian Museum and Arts Centre). At this time, all of Bornn’s photography was done in black and white, printed in his own dark room, and mounted and framed by hand. In 2007, Bornn purchased a digital camera that reinvigorated his passion for photography. Bornn learned to photograph in colour and to digitally edit and print his photographs. “The transition back to colour took a little effort but as I learned this new world of computers and printers and working in daylight, I realized that I liked looking at the world in colour again.”