Edward Stapel’s exhibition “You Can’t Erase an Idea” is displayed at The Gallery at Wadleigh Library on the Chester College of New England campus. The exhibition will run from February 1 – March 8, 2012, with a reception on Wednesday, February 15 from 5 – 8 pm.

Edward Stapel - "You Can't Erase an Idea"
Meg Cameron: When did you first come upon the idea for this series?
Edward Stapel: I tend to make photographs until a particular image, or group, pops up and becomes a working title or concept. For this series, that would be the image of the “You Can’t Erase an Idea” graffiti.
Methuen, MA (You Can’t Erase an Idea)
MC: Which image started it all?
ES: I’m not sure if any particular image started anything, but if I look at dates, the photograph of the condom on the fire hydrant was the earliest (November 2008).
Ward Hill, MA (aka the condom pic)
MC: How long did you work on the series?
ES: The first image was taken in late 2008, just prior to the birth of my son. Then, two years disappeared with intermittent image making. Over the last year, my brain started to return to me and the series began to present itself.
MC: Did you mostly stumble onto these subjects, or would you ever go seeking them out?
ES: A little of both.
MC: What was it about these places and things that struck you to photograph them?
ES: They all seemed broken, or sad, or whimsical, or pathetic, or just silly.
MC: How do you feel about the series as a whole?
ES: I’m pleased with the series but it also makes me feel a bit broken, sad, whimsical, pathetic, and silly (mostly whimsical and silly).

Maquette Cover
MC: When and how did you know the series was complete to make the book?
ES: Last summer, shortly after making the graffiti image mentioned above, I began to sense that I needed to edit all of the photographs that I had made. I made a stack of prints (roughly 80) and started going through them looking for a common thread. Many of the prints were edited out and have become separate projects. Ultimately, I narrowed the group down to 40 prints and I made a maquette to see how they felt as a book. After living with that sequence for a couple of weeks, I decided that I didn’t like the cover image I had chosen, as it made the series feel a bit paranoid. I changed the cover image and slightly altered the overall sequence for the final edit.

Maquette
When it came time to consider the images for the exhibition, I looked at the gallery space and determined that 12 prints would be manageable. I pulled 12 images from the overall series and sequenced them for the exhibition.
You can view the entire series on Edward Stapel’s flickr site: “You Can’t Erase an Idea” and please visit his website for more information: edwardstapel.com