Life artist Malcolm Tent, 47, Newtown, now has 55 different photos on display at Molten Java in Bethel. Tent, the former owner of Trash American Style Record Store on Mill Plain Road in Danbury, is exhibiting his tiny works for sale.
The price is right. The smallest size is available for only $5. Tent declares that he is not a photographer, he is a punk rocker with a camera. Call himself what he may, the tiny photos are jewels that remind the viewer that all is not always as it seems. They are also a call to remember to stop and smell the roses.
The intimacy of the details gently nudges the viewer to think beyond what they see. The panel on the door is really a cross, if you see it that way. Wires look like flowing water. The graffitti hearts are lovely and welcome, and are among his best sellers.
Passing through life with his Nikon Cool Pix camera, Tent has amassed a nice collection of images that are not too far removed from what he has been doing all of his life.
For 21 years, Tent owned Trash American style. The main focus of the shop was records, but Tent is also a musician, and it was a good way for him to be, as he called himself, “a noise maker.”
“Now that I don't have the record store, I have gone full time into being an artist that peddles records,” he said.
A member of Tent's band, Ultrabunny, Christopher J. Prorock has known Tent for much of his life. Now 31, Prorock has known Tent since he was 13. “He has been kind of a mentor to me,” he said.
Prorock plays the drums and said, “Malcolm is a talented guy. He has been influential in my life. He is like a beacon for cool culture.”
Tent seems to have always had a sense of life as art. “I think when you are an artist, you just do it. You can't do much else, to my detriment,” he said with a laugh.
Describing his photos, he said, “All my life something would catch my eye, and I wanted to document it. But with digital, it's easier.”
To learn more about Malcolm Tent, visit his website malcolmtent.net.
CP Warner, aka Mad Angel