Gallery Photographers
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July 16 - August 10, 2008 Shape and Shadow Bruce Elling
Peter Marr picks his favorite
photos of the show All images copyright by the individual photographers
This is a scintillating exhibition by an artist
who dramatically blends bold shapes, vibrant colors, and strong
visual design and contrast, into truly powerful, thought provoking
images. Most of the prints use strong natural illumination to both
intensify and delineate deep shadows, and to enhance the rich color
palette. The artist’s unique vision focuses on compositional details
taken from much broader landscapes, isolating intimate details with
great clarity and conviction. These images are stand alone
statements, in that the observer does not need to experience the
total space from which the particular aspect was taken from. Several
prints such as “At the Mag” and “Blades”, use just strong color and
hue variations to give us spatial interactions and dramatic design.
Other images, in particular “Cubes”, blend striking geometric design
with rich color variations and strong contrast, resulting in truly
memorable images. In summary, these impressive images are a great
tribute to the artist’s exceptional visual skills, and all of the
prints contribute to a magical, dazzling display. Although I would
love to comment on many personal favorites from this show, alas, I
am obliged to choose just one. The extremely strong graphic architectural design
in the background is an image unto itself, but here it is
dramatically contrasted with a majestic row of seats, emblazoned in
vivid red, separated from the backdrop by a lovely curved wall, and
an expressive shadow. The color contrast between the red seats and
the more neutral hues of the wall, shadow, and background, result in
a wonderful, powerful image. In such a setting, we can easily add
one other really fascinating dimension, namely, the one of mystery.
Where do those strong diagonals go to?, to a roof, a balcony, to the
sky?. Even more thought provoking, relates to what we can see or
hear from those impressive red seats. Do we see a stage, an
amphitheater, an ice rink, a cinema screen?, do we hear voices,
music, singing or perhaps quietness? Isolating this large segment
from an even vaster landscape, creates this mysterious wonderment,
that gives this image an added dimension, making this already superb
image even more fascinating. The
artist’s extraordinary vision and photographic skills that are shown
throughout this excellent exhibition, are wonderfully evident and
captured beautifully in this outstanding image.
Jack Russell Terrier Family
I can hear
it now . Why did Peter pick this print as his second selection? This
image is so different from the majority of the excellent prints that
are, and have been displayed at this gallery, and by its own merits,
it ranks right up there with all of them. The photograph is so
natural, so moving, so spontaneous, so meaningful, so warm with
great feeling, and it shows a magical moment, caught in time,
beautifully captured and presented. You can almost imagine the
“conversation” that these puppies are having with their parents -
“Why can’t we jump over the wall?, “Why are you over there, and
we’re here?”, etc. Precious moments in any family’s life are rarely
recorded on camera, but here is one delightful happening that has
been captured for posterity, and how wonderful that moment is to
behold. One could never pose such a family meeting as superbly as
this, not in a lifetime of trying. Yes, luck was required to be in
the right place at such a precise moment, but the author maximized
the opportunity by presenting us with one of the greatest family
moments that I have had the privilege of seeing and commentating on.
Crabapple #1
This
delightful image of crabapple blossoms, conjures up so beautifully
the passage of winter, into the transformation and emergence of
Spring. We replace the cold, monochromatic landscapes, where nature
is resting and sleeping, with the joyous burst of new-born life,
with its soft, dramatic palette of colors.
Here, the deliberate use of
shooting wide open, with very limited depth of field, works so
splendidly, enhanced by the delicate, Spring colors, contrasting the
pastel pinks with the green shades in the background. The tree’s
diagonal branch with its sumptuous floral display, is lovingly
captured against a sea of green foliage. The background here sets
off and supports the blossoms without any semblance of distraction.
The delicate, yet vibrant color of the petals is so real, so
inviting, showing us how exquisite nature can be, how fragile, yet
so strong. A truly lovely image, very well seen, photographed and
presented. | ||||||||||
Image City Photography Gallery ♦ 722 University Avenue ♦ Rochester, NY 14607 ♦ 585.271.2540 In the heart of ARTWalk in the Neighborhood of the Arts |