Oakland’s Voices-Made-Murals
“Recent events have largely silenced photographer Chiara-Sophia Coyle, but they haven’t stopped her from seeing, documenting, and reporting back to us what is going up on the walls of her ‘hood’ in Oakland, California. This little portfolio speaks for the residents of Oakland in the early summer of 2020, through the eyes and lenses of an adopted daughter of northern California.”—Chiara-Sophia Coyle
Clicks & Relativity
By Chiara-Sophia Coyle
OAKLAND California—(Weekly Hubris)—15 July 2020—Editor’s Note: Recent events have largely silenced photographer Chiara-Sophia Coyle, but they haven’t stopped her from seeing, documenting, and reporting back to us what is going up—what is being expressed—on the walls of her ‘hood’ in Oakland, California. This little portfolio speaks for the residents of Oakland in the early summer of 2020, through the eyes and lenses of an adopted daughter of northern California.
Chiara-Sophia Coyle
Born in the United States in the 1960s (then, transplanted to a very small, remote Greek island at the age of three months); brought up in a bilingual and frequently culturally conflicted environment; repatriated to Homeland No. 1 some 25 years ago; descended from four generations of photographers, Chiara-Sophia Coyle was acquainted with photography from an early age; always pursued by her mother, Rolleiflex at the ready, recording and sharing scenes of family life with absent grandparents and her children's working-at-sea father. Photography became Coyle's own escape as a young teenager. Kodak Instamatic in hand, the sound of the twist and the advancement of the film music to her ears, she began exploring all the elements of the Aegean: water, light, white, blue. While never an income generator, photography is what kept the artist sane as she navigated the challenges of single parenting, and endured the endless longing and aching for Homeland No. 2. Experimenting, early, with Emulsion Transfers, Coyle moved on to printing in her own dark room; then, to digital and iPhotography, constantly experimenting and exploring the new. Based in Sonoma, California, Coyle is an Expat Life Coach and Retreat Leader and continues to travel, photograph, and work with what feeds her soul, wherever she may be: the people, the water, the reflections, the abstract. Her current art may be found on Instagram (@chiarasophia1); contact her at chiarasophia@gmail.com. (Author Head Shot Augment: René Laanen.)