Jen Ervin is an emerging artist specializing in film-based photography and small works. She was born in northern New Jersey and moved to South Carolina in her formative years. She received her MFA in Graphic Design from Boston University, and a BA in Fine Art from Francis Marion University. Originally a painter, Ervin became interested in photography during her graduate studies under the tutelage of Alston Purvis, former student of master photographer, Walker Evans. Motherhood soon followed graduation, initiating a more personal exploration of photography as medium. Ervin was a studio artist at the Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, South Carolina from 2011-2013. She actively exhibits her work and has been published on Lenscratch, Don’t Take Pictures and Feature Shoot. Her Polaroids have also been shown in galleries and museums alongside notable photographers such as William Christenberry, Sally Mann, William Eggleston, Andy Warhol, Kathleen Robbins and Susan Worsham. Ervin lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband and their three daughters.
Before the Rainstorm, Tanyard, Big Pee Dee River, SC
Maya at Eleven, Tanyard, Big Pee Dee River, SC
Stories of Yellow Jasmine, Somewhere in the South
The Arc of Summer
The Arc of Summer celebrates the ethereal world of childhood, the waxing and waning of summer and the wild desire to remain in its embrace. It is a collection of small, unique Polaroid prints made with my family near our historic cabin, Ark Lodge, nestled deep in the woods of South Carolina.
Ark Lodge, our cabin of refuge, was built in the early 1940s and has hosted three generations of storytellers. It is set alongside the Little Pee Dee River and surrounded by acres of tall, slender pines and hauntingly, beautiful swamps. It is a place where time stands still. The lodge is equipped with a very large, rustic fireplace and only basic amenities. Its cypress walls are lined with its history told through an eclectic collection of found objects, taxidermy, and photos. In the summer, it is hot and humid, mystical and buggy, poetic and banal, uncomfortable and calming. Its most frequent visitors are wild turkey, locusts, alligators, snakes, deer, ibis and a wide sky of stars. With camera in hand, I set my intentions to find unguarded places that often hide for an inattentive eye. For these are visceral places where imperfections can become synonymous with poetry and fiction. Collectively we embark on these new adventures, blurring the lines of reality and imaginative play along the way while allowing fate to guide us. Here, lies a wilderness left to explore. One were we weave our southern family history into the present to create our own mythology.
Road to Spring, Somewhere in the South, SC
Pollen Eyes, Before the Flood, Big Pee Dee River, SC
Surviving Trees After Prescribed Burn, Somewhere in the South
Early Spring Morning, Ark Lodge, Gresham, South Carolina
Stories of Yellow Jasmine #2, Somewhere in the South
Tiny Picture of a Wide Open Landscape, Big Pee Dee River, SC
Into the Woods, After the Rain, Somewhere in the South
Cocoon, Transitions Between Seasons, Little Pee Dee River, SC
Surviving Trees After the Prescribed Burn #2, Somewhere in the South
Woodberry Sunset, Where the Flood Began, Somewhere in the South
Where Grace Leaped Forward, Returning Home, Somewhere in the South
To view more of Jen’s work please visit her website.