‘Everything is harder without Jerry’

Jerry Burchfield, who partnered with Mark Chamberlain to create the art installation known as The Tell, which is considered to be instrumental in the preservation of a large part of Laguna’s open space, died Sept. 11. He was 62.

“He died just after sunrise,” Chamberlain said. “He was all about light. Photography means light writing.

“Jerry was prepared to die — he was always organized — and he did it with grace and dignity.”

Barbara Burchfield was at the bedside of her husband of 41 years when he died after a long struggle with colon cancer. The Burchfields have one child, Brian, 24.

Burchfield was Chamberlain’s partner at BC Space Gallery on Forest Avenue from 1973 to 1987, a pioneering alternative gallery space dedicated to showing non-conformist contemporary photography.

Cal State Fullerton’s Grand Central Art Center is mounting an exhibition recognizing the influence of the gallery on the Southern California art community.

The retrospective is scheduled to run at the Santa Ana center from February through April 2010, with an accompanying book.

Since 1987, Burchfield was a professor of photography and photography gallery director at Cypress College, but he and Chamberlain continued to collaborate on the Laguna Canyon Project, of which The Tell was a part, and The Legacy Project, which records the transition of El Toro Marine Air Base to the Great Park.

Burchfield is described on his website as artist, curator, author and educator.

In his own words:

“My medium is light and photography is my primary tool of expression. Known as a conceptually oriented artist/activist, my work is environment responsive and about change, natural process, interaction, physical connections, and evolves through what I call ‘orchestrated chance.’

“I use traditional and alternative applications of photography, light painting, performance, video, evolving installations, extended documentations, and dedicate myself to long-term projects in an ongoing effort to make work that documents change over time, creates an awareness of natural beauty, and addresses humanities teetering relationship with nature.”

Burchfield’s work has received numerous awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Japan.