"The Drama of Objects"

 (I confess I am playing catch up with some of my posts!)

 

 

In August of 2011, I attended the Art Gallery of Ontario's exhibition "Abstract Expressionism" and while I knew there would be painting and sculpture to view, I was not prepared to see photography. I don't think one thinks of photography when they think of the Abstract Expressionism period.

Needless to say, I was stopped in my tracks when I came across the works of Aaron Siskind. (1903-1991) Siskind, like myself began his foray into photography at a later age. He was given a camera in 1930 as a wedding gift, and began taking photos on his honeymoon.

In the early 1940's he increasingly started creating abstract photos of forgotten and discarded items, facades, graffiti,and isolated figures. Like myself, he was drawn to the things that are abstract in our environment, lines, shapes and texture.

 

A major difference of course is that he was using black and white film, where as today I am using a digital camera. In his 1945 essay "The Drama of Objects" he asked the viewer when looking at his work to "Move on objects with your eye straight on, to the left, around to the right. Watch them grow large as you approach, group and regroup themselves as you shift your position. Relationships gradually emerge and sometimes assume themselves with finality. And that's your picture."

I was inspired to once again go back to my earliest group of photographs that were taken at a time when I had done little research or exposure to any of the 'greats' and was just learning the ins and outs of my camera. I then took it one step further, and keeping in mind his quote from the essay, removed all the colour from my images so that it is only the texture, lines, and patterns that you now see.

I was immediately taken back by how much the colour had played into my original emotional reading of the photograph, and now I have to re look, re think about these images taken from the streets of Toronto. At first glance, one might overlook them and write them off as boring. But if you do as Siskind asks and approach the images from different viewing points, you may find that the image becomes more layered in emotions.

Finally, I want to end these notes with another quote from the Abstract Expressionist painter Adolph Gottlier:

" I frequently hear the question "What do these pictures mean?" That is simply the wrong question. Visual images do not have to conform to either verbal thinking, or optical facts. A better question would be "Do these images convey any emotional truth?"

 

***The last three abstract photos are Siskands.***

Out of the City...and into the woods.

In as much as I love this city, the energy, colours, and well....conveniences it allows, there is also the nature loving side of me that yearns for trees, lakes, hiking, and wildlife. A couple of weekends ago my partner and I rented a 'cottage' so to speak in Algonquin Park for a long weekend. It really isn't that far away, perhaps 2.5 hours, but once you are out there it is so easy to forget you are only a short drive away. Endless rolling hills, forests, rivers, lakes and spectacular views. The weather was only half on our side, with equal amounts of rain, cool temperatures, and cloudy skies. We were unable to swim, or even go out in a canoe, but we did manage to get 4 hikes of various lengths and difficulties in over the weekend. I had been training for a couple of weeks to make sure I was up to the hike, which although not extreme, was on the difficult side, with little level walking areas. Our favorite hike was the 10 kilometer one that took us up over 1400 feet above sea level on to cliffs formed from the last ice age. Hearing the wind roar through the pines while we looked down onto the lakes and forests was worth all the rain, and hard work.

Here is a small group of photos I took over the weekend, but none can really create the sense of vastness one feels up there...I can imagine what it would look like in fall colour.

Architecture as Art..

I was recently asked if I would be interested in doing a photo shoot based on Art Deco architecture in Toronto for a friend who is in the final stages of completing a book on the subject. For those of you who know me well, you can well assume I signed on to the project with open lenses! Architecture is and will be one of my favorite subjects to photograph.

So armed with a list of buildings I needed to photograph, I hit the streets and once again fell in love with many of our forgotten, and not so forgotten gems. I also discovered a little program that allows me to make collages of my photos so that I can show off many images in a much smaller space.

Here are some samplings from the project..

Still Life photos...

I have always loved images of Still Life. I remember one particular framed image of a a still life in my Grandparents home. It was a print of a bowl of apples. It was very simple with some of the apples in the bowl and a couple sitting outside of it. I am sure most of you have, or at least remember a home that had a still life image in it somewhere.

What I like most about them will come to no surprise to most of you. If you look at the examples I have posted of some well known still life paintings, they all speak to my love of dark, rich, moody colours. The joy about still lifes are that they appear simple but yet are complex in the way they are telling a story. Often they play with senses...items that bring forth memories of smells, or tastes. Or they play with your emotions, not only through the item being depicted, but in the way they are represented through light. Plain backgrounds allow the items to stand, and speak for themselves.

Fast forward to today, and still lifes are still alive and well and have been given a new outlet in the form of photography. A friend of mine who lives in France just had his first gallery showing of his still life work. His work is simply put...Stunning. I have decided to explore this aspect of photography myself, and hope some day I can come close to his talent.

For now, I will just share some of my favorite still lifes I have taken thus far. I'm sure this will be a lesson in before and after, so stay tuned.

The Curtain Rises..

For the last few months I have been working on a very exciting project that allowed me to marry my love of photography, with a relatively unchartered area for me, theatre. I was asked by a friend who owns a theatre company (www.theatresymbiosis.com) to join them and help collaborate on a play they wanted to present for the Toronto Fringe Festival. It was going to be on photography, and that's all they had established. I was excited about this opportunity, and thought "why not?"

So over the next few months, we auditioned actors, brainstormed, looked at photos, made storyboards, wrote and then re-wrote scripts, figured out props, learned basic photography skills and terminology, chose our promotional material, posted on facebook, tweeted, blogged, and of course rehearsed, and rehearsed.

Last night the curtain rose on the first of seven performances. Our play is called "Exposure". In the 45 minute performance we explore how photography can impact the relationships of four characters, and how those same relationships can affect the art itself. The play takes place in two different periods of time, the 1940's-50's and present day. It moves forwards and backwards and offers thoughts, perspectives, and even a little bit of history all pertaining to photographs, the camera used to capture them, and the person behind and in front of the lens.

It has been an exciting, and rewarding journey and one I am glad I embarked on. Thanks Daniella for asking me to come aboard!!

Here are some photographs that were used or taken during the months leading up to the performance. Enjoy!