ON SEEING, A Journal. #516
Studies of Light
February 28, 2023
71 magazine
Early last year I came upon 71Magazine, an avant-garde online zine of culture, art and fashion. I was very impressed with its world-class design.
The magazine was launched in late 2017 by three talented artists: Erin O’Brien, Elisa Giordano and Mike Brannon. They have created original, compelling and beautiful work which includes music, art, style, design, fashion, photography and film. Anyone interested in contemporary art and culture would do well to look at their work, and subscribe to it.
Last month 71Magazine published an editorial about images I’ve made using various light sources—after all, photography is “writing with light.”
Click here to read the 71Magazine Editorial.
Additional images I’ve created experimenting and exploring in “Studies of Light.”
“Drawing”
Circles:
With people (Dancers, Models, Athletes):
I traveled to Florida to the NY Mets training camp for a photoshoot for SI.
I handed a 6 inch long light wand to Mets star pitcher Pedro Martinez and explained I wanted to “record,” i.e. photograph, the path of his pitching hand.
I showed him how it “worked” and we got to work. On the first “throw” he let go of the wand smashing it into the floor—the wand’s cracked pieces and batteries can be seen bouncing up in the air. He said “oooops.”
Oh boy…..
I had brought a second wand, “just in case,” and after a perhaps even more thorough explanation, with some sincere pleading he threw once more.
With dancers:
I asked dancer Virginia Horne to jump and turn while holding a light wand. I set the strobe to fire when she was in the air.
This was done in camera in a one-second exposure.
I asked dancer Lenna Parr to hold two light wands, one in each hand, and then jump (we used a trampoline) and write with each hand “symmetrically.”
I find it quite interesting how our brain can direct each hand to move in almost perfect harmonious symmetry as if mirror-imaged (I learned about this human function in neurology in medical school).
Silhouette; The light is moved behind a dancer who is also moving:
A “light” font done with a light wand and then made into a negative.
A “light” font done with a light wand and then made into a negative.
Creativity is infinite; surprise and delight will come with curiosity, imagination, open-mindedness, and incessant exploration.
