In a similar way to many other elements in this collection, Backyard Zooms illustrates JoAnn Elam’s experimentations with filmmaking and editing practices. In her backyard outside her house in Chicago, Elam first films the construction of a house using fast and slow motion, followed by the same house finished in a time-lapse fashion. The camera
V’s Dogs by JoAnn Elam shows three dogs playing and running outside and a woman petting them. Sometimes out of focus, this footage like many other elements in this collection featuring cats and dogs still creates a sense of intimacy with the dogs, through its many close-ups and tight framing. Although we cannot determine the
This footage by JoAnn Elam was probably shot in San Francisco, where Elam spent the “Summer of Love” in 1967 and which she perhaps visited again later. First rapidly edited, the footage then slows down to focus on rows of houses, the street numbers on their fa?ades, and their mail slots. As 37th Av. &
This footage by JoAnn Elam shows members of the Chicago city council during one of their meetings around 1973. As in another element from this collection titled [City Council 2], she films one speaking member after another from behind, as she was probably sitting in the back. Elam started working as a letter carrier for
This footage by JoAnn Elam shows members of the Chicago city council during one of their meetings around 1973. As in another element from this collection titled [City Council 1], she films one speaking member after another from behind, as she was probably sitting in the back. Elam started working as a letter carrier for
This footage by JoAnn Elam dates back to 1981 and possibly shows Elam’s garden in Chicago, with superimposed images of nature, a child, and a cat. Although most of the people featured are unidentified, one may recognize Elam’s second husband Joe Hendrix near the end. As many other elements in this collection, this title further
Back Porch (right),” along with its counterpart ” Back Porch (left),” appears to be a version of ” Backyard (Original) ” edited for presentation as double projection, in which the left and right portions of the film would be presented side by side simultaneously. In the film, JoAnn Elam documents the gardens, neighbors, and views
This footage by JoAnn Elam from 1973 first shows the roofs of apartment buildings and houses, trees, and tires from what appears to be a moving car driving on the streets of Chicago. As many elements in this collection demonstrate, Elam often used car rides as opportunities to film the city and to experiment with
This footage by JoAnn Elam from around 1974 shows Elam’s home in Chicago, her dog, her books and cans of films, her garden through the window, nature during the summer, the city in the snow during the winter, and Elam herself from up close, among others. Even if the image is sometimes out of focus
Bowl belongs to a series of elements in the JoAnn Elam collection featuring JoAnn Elam and her coworkers from the US Post Office at the bowling alley near Logan Square where they worked. In this footage from 1976, the camera focuses on each member of the team as he or she throws the ball down