Photographer Stephen Honicki at his “Between Heaven and Hell” opening night at Magnet. Photo by Rink.

Now through the end of August, Stephen Honicki’s framed photographs will be on the gallery wall at Magnet, the gay-bi Castro hub of health and social well-being located on 18th and Castro. During the August 12 reception for Honicki, he allowed me to interview him. Honicki originally started with a series of black and white paintings with sumi ink with imagery derived from films from the ‘30s and ‘40s. From his extensive collection of films on video, he froze a scene each time and photographed the TV screen, using the resulting photograph as the base of the painting – sometimes changing parts of the image or adding something. The image was usually 16X24. He then superimposed a line of text, “which typically had more of an ironic meaning than a literal one going on in the film,” he told me. He had a Master’s Degree in Art Education with concentration on painting. He went from teaching elementary school to high school - using film, video, and photography as his curriculum. “Later I switched my paintbrush for a camera,” he said. The approach he taught was to encourage students “to create from within, so that the work that artists create is valid to their experiences.” He said his initial goal in his own work was to make it as personal as he could. He described the pieces as semi-autobiographical personal narratives. “It was almost like Steve’s soap opera - that a viewer was able to see in front of them,” he said. “I would use what I describe as actors who would portray the characters in my life – although the actors were really people I knew.” As currently hanging on Magnet’s wall, the photos are in chronological order (although some scenes are missing). He said he would set up these stories so that people who knew him were able to read into what they saw in front of them. He said it was intentionally “a little ambiguous” because he wanted the viewers to get in their own sense what the story was about, via imagery and text. As a writer, I tended to first read the captions and then look at the photos. Honicki said there is no one correct way to view the pieces. “It’s a matter of what someone is drawn to first,” he said. He purposely chose courier font for the captions, because he wanted it to seem as if it had been typed on an old ‘40s typewriter.

He said he was inspired by Duane Michals, who does a lot of personal storytelling photography work, but with handwritten text. Michals suggested Honicki reduce the original photos’ size down from 16X24, to give more intimacy.

Honicki’s technique in the first half of the series was accomplished with Scala black and white slide film - affording a very fine grain, very rich, quite stark image. But when Scala discontinued making the film, he wanted to keep achieving a ‘30s film appearance, so from #8: “There were no villains to be found” and on, he used a digital SLR camera. “I think I’ve still accomplished the same look of the subject matter, lighting, and composition,” he said. All images were realized via tripod and timers.

He said his message is to have viewers interpret for themselves what is going on. The title of the series is “Between Heaven and Hell,” which is supposed to represent the title of a soap opera. “It’s about the trials and tribulations of my life, overcoming the breakup of a long-term relationship and being single for the first time in 20 years, and going through other experiences to where I am now,” he elaborated. He said the man he is seeing currently, alas, does not like to be photographed.

My favorite of the series, #10: “I am exactly where I need to be,” seemed to be a spiritual revelation. He confirmed that a lot of this was a journey – including physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual. He said #8: “There were no villains to be found,” and #9: “He didn’t need a boyfriend to win the war,” and #10 were a triptych in themselves, “when that personal, emotional state - after all that upheaval and turmoil - says I am okay because of me, and not someone else.” You will note the same white dog appears in all three photos. He added, “My happiness is not determined by another human being.” His spirituality told him, “There is a higher power that I’ve surrendered to, which has brought me to where I am today.” His philosophy is: there are no coincidences. He said, “Nothing is permanent; everything is temporary,” and further explained, “‘Temporary’ can mean a week, a month, ten years, or whatever.”

I felt that the very last piece, “Something told me to believe in him,” with the lighting focused on a man asleep in bed – created an angelic atmosphere.

“Lighting is a key element for me,” he remarked. “It’s part of that dramatic feel that I want the viewer to experience.”

“He could not foresee the consequences of falling,” #4, indicated to me the most soap opera-like of the stills, where he dramatically buttons up his shirt as a half naked man turns his back in the foreground to look out the window. “It’s a major piece of the puzzle of the story,” he said cryptically.

People can check out more of Honicki’s work on his website at stevephotography.com. But more importantly, check out his work in person at Magnet.

You are sure to be drawn to it.