LaVon Van Williams- Sculptor of low-relief carvings

“the freedom of woodworking was refreshing to Williams even as the craftwork involved still called on the hard work and attention to detail” Karin Borei 

LaVon Van Williams became a wood sculptor by learning to carve with a chainsaw followed by refinement with a mallet and chisel. “He adopted the distinct African-inspired carved sculpture tradition of the Carolina coastal Gullah/Geechee people to find his voice.” (Borei). He is an urban folk artist drawing his inspiration from jazz and blues. He originally went to an art school in California where a professor, “insisting black artists have no future in the art world,” Williams went home and turned his back on the established art paradigm. (Jeanine Taylor).

LaVon’s older brother Dave had learned carving from their Uncle Luke who in turn taught his younger brother the craft. Much of his work depicts people playing jazz instruments or engaging in emotional activities, Williams states, “You’re looking for a fantastic movement or a fantastic shape that comes in the piece, and that’s the whole power of the piece. You want it to explode out when the viewer sees it, or you want it to be calm, but yet you still want a powerful presence in the piece, so that it dominates or takes off.” (Black Cultural Center Virtual Museum). This family tradition has born some emotive wood carvings such as evidenced by LaVon’s Five O’ Clock Jump, which is a tribute to Count Basie a jazz musician. 

LaVon Van Williams Jr (born 1958)   

Jeanine Taylor Folk Art 

LaVon Van Williams  

Jeanine Taylor Folk Art, FL 

Fuji Instax – Successor to Polaroid

The Fuji Instax camera and film line is the successor to Polaroid. Fujifilm and Polaroid had a working relationship that was the total opposite of Kodak with their ill-fated instant print cameras in 1976. Although Kodak manufactured Polaroid’s instant film products from 1963-1969 they had not licensed the Polaroid technology when they decided to branch out on their own. Had they done so they may have become the successors to Polaroid instead of Fujifilm. Fujifilm also had working agreements with Kodak while Kodak was developing their instant film technology. When Kodak lost their patent suit against Polaroid Fujifilm turned around and licensed Polaroid instant technology. Ironically, Fuji’s instant camera technology was closer in design to Kodak than Polaroid. They also licensed Kodak’s instant camera technology giving them access to both competitors.

Fujifilm first issued their instant print cameras and film in 1998 in Japan. They had launched both the Instax Mini 10 and Instax Mini film with the Instax Wide camera and film debuting in 1999. Partnering with Polaroid they released the Polaroid Mio instant camera using Instax Mini 10 film in 2001. Initially, the Instax line did not do well in the U.S.A. and was discontinued after a few years until its comeback in 2008. In 2016 they released a monochromatic Instax Mini film followed by the Instax Wide version. Polaroid officially withdraws from producing instant print film in 2008.

To read the rest of the article plus see the Instax photos just follow this link.