commune

24th Sep Fri – 10th Oct Sun, 2021

At gallery commune

We are having an exhibition of San Francisco artist/photographer Ward Long; “Summer Sublet” starting on 24th Sep Fri.

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When I lost my lease, Ara said there might be a room on Montgomery Street, and so I moved in with Alice, Hannah, Sarah, Bianca, and Kate. At first I hid in my room and tried not to be noticed. I was so conspicuously male, and so out of proportion. I never had sisters.

They cooked together, mixed teas and tinctures, dyed fabrics in the backyard, designed costumes for children’s plays, wrote songs and poems, gave each other late-night tattoos, smithed jewelry, and stitched leather. They read tarot, talked aura, charted horoscopes, and parked their dirt bikes in the basement. The everyday physical and emotional closeness completely overwhelmed me. I remember the first night we all said, “I love you,” before bed.

Everything in the house started to blur and bleed together. The paintings on the wall, the tattoos on your leg, the drawings in our notebooks, and the poses in the pictures: it all came together.
I couldn’t believe it was real.The caring touches, the open hearts, the blushes of affection, the care and the clutter. It was so beautiful.
I never wanted to move out.”

Summer Sublet is about living with women, female friendship, furniture found on the street, and the glow and fade of youth. I wish you could have been there.

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Ward Long is a photographer living in Oakland, California. He received his MFA in Photography at the University of Hartford, and his photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries across the United States. His debut monograph Summer Sublet (Deadbeat Club) was listed as one of the best books of the year by Alec Soth, Vanessa Winship, Lenscratch, and American Suburb X. He received a Beth Block grant from the Houston Center of Photography, and was named as a Flash Forward honoree by the Magenta Foundation. He teaches photobook making at the San Francisco Art Institute, and lectures widely.
HP : www.wardlong.com
instagram: @wardlong