The Gun Next Door
Photographs By Judy Dater
East Bay Photo Workshop
312 8th St., Oakland
Sept. 15 – Nov. 19, 2023
A small room with low ceilings and white walls, a couple of them temporary, is lined with oversized glossy black and white prints of individuals in intimate and often defiant poses. Some look directly into the photographer’s lens, others shy away; one obscures his face completely.
They all hold their (favorite) guns.
The photos, by member Judy Dater, are on display at the East Bay Photo Collective’s Workshop space in Oakland’s Chinatown. The collective has created a community space with darkrooms and workshops as well as the gallery space, which is open to the public free of charge.
Dater’s works are stark against the white gallery walls, encouraging viewers to enter and inspect more closely. Oversized, with none smaller than 18 inches across and one measuring 36 x 44.5, the photos are printed in archival pigment.
They are to be enjoyed only in this space, as several notices request no photos of the works be shared online, for the sake of the privacy of the subjects.
I found that a hard pill to swallow. The photos are arresting, their contrasts enhanced and studio lighting framing the subjects, be it gun or owner, with a softened glow. The subjects share a version of their most intimate selves. While I appreciated the chance to stand before the photos and soak them in, I felt that these pieces of public art, ones so embroiled in the sociopolitical climate of our country, should not be relegated to a single room. Nor should the subjects be granted that level of protection and anonymity when they elected to sit for these portraits.
These are powerful images, but I’m not certain if that’s because of their sheer size, the high impact contrast and quality of the prints, or the isolated setting. Would they tell the same story in a different format? Would I care?
The individuals pictured in Dater’s photos ranged from young to older, across racial lines. All expressed personal reasons for owning, using, loving, or simply tolerating their weapons. Some cradled them. One man, an army vet, security guard, and actor, stands with his arms crossed, gun gently resting on his forearm, “We The People” tattoos below. With his cocked fedora, suit vest, pocket watch chain, and pout at the camera, he invokes an extra in a gangster film.
Another woman, a public and semi-controversial figure in her kitten-printed Lolita dress, rests her face against the barrel of her rifle. It is a “FN FAL, aka The right arm of the free world,” according to the description, and the rifle, and she, are decked out in satin and lace bows. She smiles sweetly at the camera, fingers just barely resting on her gun. She is 43, a Hong Kong native, and crusader for LGBTQ+ rights. Queer identity and activism plays a central theme through the narrative, and I have to wonder if that is a product of their location (all shot in the Bay Area), or if the photographer was looking to make a larger point there.
The stated reasons for ownership — self-protection, distrust of the government, preservation of a parent’s legacy, or a carry-over from time in the Boy Scouts — were no surprise. It was the choices each subject made for their presentation I found most compelling. From a local tattoo artist with presumably identifiable body art who turned his face entirely away from the camera, to a 27-year-old medical student draped in a shoulderless black gown and five-stranded pearl necklace with a rifle half her size, to an army vet posed topless, baring his scars and his sexuality, I left wondering how these people came to those choices. They clearly want to be seen. They want to be seen fully, to be understood as complex characters balancing civil rights and gun rights, individual choice and the need to share and create community. Dater did a great job of capturing a piece of that — gave them a space to share parts of their wholes, a controversial side framed in just the right light.
The Gun Next Door runs through Nov. 19, with closing reception scheduled Nov. 17 from 6 – 9 p.m.
The East Bay Photo Collective’s Workshop is open Fridays and Saturdays 12 – 6, Sundays 12 – 3.
