“Windows” documents the views of and out from windows around JoAnn Elam’s Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago. The first section begins at an El train stop, capturing the station itself and the views of people playing tennis as seen from the moving train. A switch approximately halfway through the runtime moves the action to downtown
Footage of trees swaying in the sunlight, as seen from a window. A windchime in silhouette periodically obscures the trees.
Similar to her “Back Porch” films, JoAnn Elam’s “Front Porch” documents the scenes of life in her neighborhood in Chicago. The film pays especial attention to the light flowing through different branches and leaves of plant growth and the rhythm of a gentle breeze swaying the blinds on the window. These patterns and abstractions repeat
Experimental home movie documenting a visit by filmmakers Wayne and Eleanor Boyer and their nine-year-old son Brett to JoAnn Elam’s home in Logan Square, Chicago, for a summer barbecue. Later in the film, Chuck Kleinhans and Julia Lesage, co-founders of the cinema journal Jump Cut join the group. Since Elam is on screen for much
Footage documenting the famed “Blizzard of ’79,” including some early examples of parking “dibs,” people digging out their cars, and postal carriers delivering mail.
Joann Elam captures urban residents on the go in various seasons. The film begins in winter, as JoAnn captures sleepy neighborhood scenes from her snowy Logan Square windowsill. This is followed by manipulated summer scenes of a fast paced marathon. Through light flares and in-camera editing, marathon runners deconstruct into colorful forms.
A loose triptych, “Hockey” begins with a nighttime hockey game before turning its attention to an orange cat outside a house, walking up to the door and waiting to be let in. Finally, the camera explores an urban neighborhood during a rainy day, with special focus on a basketball bouncing into a puddle, a Wells
This footage by JoAnn Elam was shot during a snowstorm around 1974, probably in Chicago where Elam lived. Everything is covered in snow and the screen is almost entirely white, save for a few people walking around and shovelling snow and their dogs. Similar to much of Elam’s film work set in nature, Struggle also
“Test Backyard” explores the different views of the area surrounding and within JoAnn Elam’s Logan Square backyard (a frequent locale in her work). The perspective on her neighbor’s back porches, trees, and Elam’s own garden changes from indoors and outdoors, close-up and from a distance, and in and out of crisp focus. Although its title
Shot by JoAnn Elam in 1983 at the Palmer Square Art Fair in Chicago, this footage shows the participants of the fair interacting, playing music, and selling various artifacts outside. Slightly out of focus, these images nonetheless capture Elam’s experience in the crowd, with her camera panning over the people and spinning around until something