wilson hurst

latent image intensification

U ntil recently, when I included my shadow in an image, it was because circumstances made it difficult to avoid. Either the lighting direction or lens focal length meant that my shadow was in attendance, and I just made the best of it in the work. But lately I have approached my shadow as the subject matter and main compositional element. This has been a lot of fun, and revealed new opportunities in familiar locations. I really like the color transform of reflected radiation on both sides of the shadow boundary, as my presence alters the source light spectral distribution.

“In spite of its function as a reservoir for human darkness–or perhaps because of this–the shadow is the seat of creativity.” - Carl Jung

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P ortal into an internal sanctum. Attracted to the black door with the white rectangular embellishments, I captured this scene as a speculative opportunity, unsure of its eventual visual worthiness. In retrospect, however, I am quite satisfied with the effort. The atmospheric randomness and textural variety enhance mysterious questions of underlying intention. The reason why is a redundant expression.

“Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.” - Jack Buck

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N ext week's shooting assignment in my “Materials and Processes” of photography class is self shadow. Although I have taught the class for three years, this is the first time I have identified this stylized representation of the artist's presence as a visual theme. Over the years I have occasionally made an image which included my own shadow as an integral design component, but recently I have become much more consciously focused on this genre. In psychology the shadow self is considered the guardian of the threshold.

“As above, so below, as within, so without, so that the miracle of the one can be established.” ancient axiom

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A rectangular geometric abstraction materialized as I ambled along. Sometimes things just fall into place. This is a study of asymmetrical balance and spatial shape associations, addressing the inherently two dimensional nature of the picture plane. The process of creating a purely pictorial reality built of elemental geometric forms evolved as a logical extension of Cubist deconstruction.

“The first type of abstraction from objects I shall refer to as simple abstraction, but the second type I shall call reflective abstraction, using this term in a double sense.” - Jean Piaget

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S wamps have value, although I would not wish to live in or near one primarily because of the abundant voracious insects usually present. Featuring much visual diversity, although physical access is frequently limited, they are great to photograph. I often observe unique vegetation in a swamp ecosystem not seen anywhere else. This is another infrared view made in what remains of the eastern Arkansas swampland along the Mississippi River.

“There is an eternal landscape, a geography of the soul; we search for its outlines all our lives.” - Josephine Hart

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O ccasionally I find object arrangements that when rendered are intrinsically painterly, marked by an openness of form with shapes distinguished by color variations and contour. This image makes strong use of many visual effects such as chromatic sequence, warm and cool tones, chiaroscuro, complementary and contrasting colors, broad and narrow tonality, impressionism, and impasto. It reminds me of the look and feel of an image made with a Polaroid SX70 prior to emulsion manipulation.

“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting laundry.” - E. B. White

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A n early morning image shot from the rental car while in route to my color management presentation in Osceola Arkansas. Osceola originally was the name of a rebellious young leader of the Seminole Indians who unsuccessfully resisted forced emigration from Southeast swamplands to unoccupied swamplands just west of the Mississippi river. Active in the Second Seminole War in the Florida swamps, he was captured and imprisoned by federal troops in 1837 while carrying a white flag of truce.

“This gallant fellow is grieving with a broken spirit, and ready to die, cursing the white man, no doubt to the end of his breath.” - George Catlin

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T rees orient themselves aesthetically on a gentle slope receding down to the shoreline. The lake absorbs infrared like a proverbial black hole, where the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing, not even electromagnetic radiation, can escape its pull. Despite its interior being invisible, a black hole may reveal its existence through interactions with matter that survives outside its event horizon.

“Now there's a look in your eyes,
Like black holes in the sky.” - Pink Floyd

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