Review

"West Bottoms Awesome Sky", Digitally Altered Photograph.

Jon Freeman

1-5 p.m.

Argentine Library
2800 Metropolitan Ave.
Kansas City, KS
913.722.7400

Hours: 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
Runs through: March 16

Artist's site: http://www.jonfreemanart.com
Gallery site: http://www.kckpl.org/FINEARTS/exhibits.htm

The bad thing about being a self-taught artist is that the teacher doesn't know any more than the student.

The good thing is that as soon as the teacher learns something, it gets passed along to the student immediately.

Jon Freeman, whose art photography show opened yesterday at the Argentine branch of the Kansas City Kansas Public Library, isn't entirely self-taught. He's close, though.

While the majority of my experience in photography comes from a combination of personal research and hands-on training, he writes, I did have a bit of training in film photography in high school. My favorite subjects to shoot have been landscapes and architecture.

Self-teaching after that short preparation time might seem premature. But while the curriculum has stuck with the basics (architecture and landscapes  are two-thirds of the Three R's of photography, portraiture being the third), Freeman  is pursuing advanced field studies through the College of Practical Knowledge.

He has added portraits to his portfolio, launching his Flywheel Fotography business in the process, and continued to expand his repertoire of tools and techniques.

I like to experiment with lo-fi cameras, he writes, and the majority of my photos have been drastically altered with some sort of post production in an attempt to give them a completely unique look.

The look Freeman favors in the library pieces is based on alteration of color scales and the addition of (or enhancement of existing) texture. In West Bottoms Awesome Sky, today's featured image, he took the enhancement route, using complementary colors to make the fine details of brick and cloud stand out.

Do it and the other works in this show represent the peak of Freeman's self-study? Not likely ... and that's a good thing.

All artists are developing artists. The alternative is stagnation, and Freeman isn't the sort to let himself get comfortable. Remember that phrase: I like to experiment.

And if you check out his Web site, you'll see that Freeman has undertaken an ambitious expansion of his inner art school.

He's teaching himself to paint.