As a photographer I make it my vocation to look at the world around me in perhaps a different fashion than most. Once in a while a I get a glimpse of how near sighted this vision is. May 1st was one of those days. It was here that I got a taste of how great photography can be.
Those of you who live anywhere near Santa Monica should do everything in your power to between now and May 14th to go see the Ashes and Snow exhibit on the peir.
Of all the great museums that I've been to and all the worlds finest art, this exhibit and gallery space ranks amongst the finest. The gallery space was designed by a Japanese architect and mixes modern with Budhist simplicity. When you first enter the cavernous hallways, you are lulled by low ambient lighting and the new age meditative music. Walking down the raised wooden aisles (there are three) the roof towers four stories above you. Large photographs are suspended by thin wires from the ceiling and grounded to the floor on either side of the walkway. Each is lit from high above. The floor beneath the photos is covered with polished river rocks. At the end of each aisle there are large screens that play movies of imagery similar to the showcased photos.
The photos themselves are black and white with sepia toning. Each image is primarily of humans interacting with animals or of the animals themselves. Some of the animals featured are Cheetahs, Meerkats, Hawks, Elephants and Whales. There are black and white underwater photos of Gregory Colbert the artist freediving with whales. He is clad only in baggy pants and swims with them as if he were in an underwater ballet. Each photo and segment of film is void of any extraneous or superflous content. The images are stark and graphic in their content and evolk a trance like quality.
There is only one word that may touch of the surface of feelings that this exhibit brings forth and that is "Profound".
If you are anywhere near LA in the next eleven days then I can only admonish you to do whatever is necessary to go see this wonderous show. On May 15th it leaves for Toyko on it's nomadic journey to the four corners of the world.
http://www.ashesandsnow.org
Those of you who live anywhere near Santa Monica should do everything in your power to between now and May 14th to go see the Ashes and Snow exhibit on the peir.
Of all the great museums that I've been to and all the worlds finest art, this exhibit and gallery space ranks amongst the finest. The gallery space was designed by a Japanese architect and mixes modern with Budhist simplicity. When you first enter the cavernous hallways, you are lulled by low ambient lighting and the new age meditative music. Walking down the raised wooden aisles (there are three) the roof towers four stories above you. Large photographs are suspended by thin wires from the ceiling and grounded to the floor on either side of the walkway. Each is lit from high above. The floor beneath the photos is covered with polished river rocks. At the end of each aisle there are large screens that play movies of imagery similar to the showcased photos.
The photos themselves are black and white with sepia toning. Each image is primarily of humans interacting with animals or of the animals themselves. Some of the animals featured are Cheetahs, Meerkats, Hawks, Elephants and Whales. There are black and white underwater photos of Gregory Colbert the artist freediving with whales. He is clad only in baggy pants and swims with them as if he were in an underwater ballet. Each photo and segment of film is void of any extraneous or superflous content. The images are stark and graphic in their content and evolk a trance like quality.
There is only one word that may touch of the surface of feelings that this exhibit brings forth and that is "Profound".
If you are anywhere near LA in the next eleven days then I can only admonish you to do whatever is necessary to go see this wonderous show. On May 15th it leaves for Toyko on it's nomadic journey to the four corners of the world.
http://www.ashesandsnow.org
