This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 16, 2010 - Schmidt Contemporary Art is showing works by St. Louis native Barclay Hughes, a photographer who spent a good deal of time in the East (getting an MFA at Yale, among other things) and who has returned to live in our city (lucky for us).
“Trailways” is a series of new photographs that delve into the limbo lives of long-haul truckers. These intimately scaled images feel at once anonymous and yet highly personal: We’re given privileged views of a way of life that remains obscure and marginal.
The stereotypes are all there — the diner waitress, the truck-stop prostitute, and many lonesome drivers — but they seem to possess secrets we’ll never know. Adding to the interest is the fact that Hughes’ photos aren’t the snapshots they appear to be; they’re the products of elaborate digital orchestrations, composites from multiple sources.
While knowing that doesn’t reduce the images’ power, it does pose perplexing questions about the nature of photographic truth — what photographs are vs. what we want them to be.
Accompanying “Trailways” are works from two earlier series, “Anonymous” and “Desire,” which are equally fascinating and say a lot about Hughes, who appears to feel most at home in crowded, yet depersonalized spaces.
Ivy Cooper, a professor of art at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is the Beacon's art critic.