covid-19 - day 24 saturday 18 april
Rangitoto:
In homage to Hiroshi Sugimoto.
This period of reduced outside activity has given me the opportunity to trawl through some of the photographic books I have collected over the past year.
Of particular interest for me has been Michael Freeman’s “Fifty Paths to Creative Photography” in which this very experienced photographer gives 50 brief tutorials on creative approaches to taking pictures. Chapters include: “Mistrust Experience”, ‘Surrealism and the Found”, “Known Subject, Different View”.
I found a good starting point was “Homage” in which Freeman suggests deliberately copying the works of successful photographers as a way of understanding what makes a striking image. As an example he quotes Degas: “You have to copy and recopy the masters, and it’s only after having proved oneself as good a copyist that you can reasonably try to do a still-life of a radish”.
My inspiration for “Rangitoto” was “Baltic Sea, Rugen” 1996 by Hiroshi Sugimoto. I came across this minimalistic image in “When Photography Really Works” by Val Williams.
This period of reduced outside activity has given me the opportunity to trawl through some of the photographic books I have collected over the past year.
Of particular interest for me has been Michael Freeman’s “Fifty Paths to Creative Photography” in which this very experienced photographer gives 50 brief tutorials on creative approaches to taking pictures. Chapters include: “Mistrust Experience”, ‘Surrealism and the Found”, “Known Subject, Different View”.
I found a good starting point was “Homage” in which Freeman suggests deliberately copying the works of successful photographers as a way of understanding what makes a striking image. As an example he quotes Degas: “You have to copy and recopy the masters, and it’s only after having proved oneself as good a copyist that you can reasonably try to do a still-life of a radish”.
My inspiration for “Rangitoto” was “Baltic Sea, Rugen” 1996 by Hiroshi Sugimoto. I came across this minimalistic image in “When Photography Really Works” by Val Williams.
At first I was surprised at the subject matter: mist/obscurity/nothingness? Then I experienced the calmness and serenity of the scene, and understood why someone would photograph “nothing”.
However, the viewer also becomes aware that behind the veil of mist lies the mystery of the unknown, possibly unseen drama...Conrad’s description of the African jungle as a “brooding manevolance” comes to mind. (“Heart of Darkness”).
Or, even more impressionistically: “It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention”.
On p.65 Williams says of this work” Baltic Sea, Rugen is one of the remarkable photographs from the series of seascapes produced by Hiroshi Sugimoto in the 1990s. Writing about his relationship with the sea, Sugimoto comments: “Mystery of mysteries, water and air are right there before us in the sea. Every time I view the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark upon a voyage of seeing’.
Baltic Sea, Rugen is a subtle gradation of grays, and the division between sea and sky is minimal....this image captures not only the luminosity of water and sky, but also a deep melancholic threat of darkness and storm.”
However, the viewer also becomes aware that behind the veil of mist lies the mystery of the unknown, possibly unseen drama...Conrad’s description of the African jungle as a “brooding manevolance” comes to mind. (“Heart of Darkness”).
Or, even more impressionistically: “It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention”.
On p.65 Williams says of this work” Baltic Sea, Rugen is one of the remarkable photographs from the series of seascapes produced by Hiroshi Sugimoto in the 1990s. Writing about his relationship with the sea, Sugimoto comments: “Mystery of mysteries, water and air are right there before us in the sea. Every time I view the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark upon a voyage of seeing’.
Baltic Sea, Rugen is a subtle gradation of grays, and the division between sea and sky is minimal....this image captures not only the luminosity of water and sky, but also a deep melancholic threat of darkness and storm.”
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