Read on Twitter
1/ I love finding out that there is a name for a concept that was important to me, but I didn't have a concrete handle on previously. The name helps to distill the amorphous feeling or thought into a paradigm I can use when shooting
Three recent examples:
Ma
Yūgen
The Local
Three recent examples:
Ma
Yūgen
The Local
2/ Ma — the Japanese concept of 'negative space' in art and culture. Importantly it means more than the use of empty pictorial space (the Western sense of the term), to include the perception of a gap, separation, or emptiness in the tone or feel of a work.
3/ It has a sense of potentiality i.e. from the @Wikipedia entry:
- "an emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled"
- "the silence between the notes which make the music"
- "an emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled"
- "the silence between the notes which make the music"
4/ or this poem extract also from @Wikipedia
...Pots are formed from clay, though the space inside them is the essence of the pot;
Walls with windows and doors form the house,
though the space within them is the essence of the house.
...Pots are formed from clay, though the space inside them is the essence of the pot;
Walls with windows and doors form the house,
though the space within them is the essence of the house.
5/ Ma describes the feeling I get when I look at Hopper or Rothko paintings, images by Trent Parke or Sergio Larrain, or read Raymond Carver or Ocean Vuong.
I love negative space and the feeling of tension and potentiality that can be created with composition, light and gesture
I love negative space and the feeling of tension and potentiality that can be created with composition, light and gesture
6/ I found out about Yūgen from my friend @TJOwusu. Every time I speak with him I learn something new.
Yūgen (also Japanese) is "A profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe, beyond that which can be said or depicted."
Yūgen (also Japanese) is "A profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe, beyond that which can be said or depicted."
7/ This applies to both the awe-inspiring spectacle of Nature's big hitters—oceans/mountains/vast vistas; but also in a much smaller sense—being struck by the quotidian beauty that surrounds you if you quiet yourself and try to look at the world as if for the first time.
8/ As soon as @TJOwusu described this to me over pizza, I realised that this one word encapsulates the subtle feelings I respond to when I am taking pictures, but couldn't describe before.
It's what I recognise & love in the work of @rinkokawauchi, @tejucole and Stephen Gill
It's what I recognise & love in the work of @rinkokawauchi, @tejucole and Stephen Gill
/9 Finally the idea of 'The Local' that I encountered reading Jenny Odell's brilliant book, How to Do Nothing.
The Local is a space in which you create or draw on for inspiration, defined by it's physical or emotional proximity
The Local is a space in which you create or draw on for inspiration, defined by it's physical or emotional proximity
10/ The concerns of The Local are specific and subjective but if the quality of execution and observation is high enough, the work can cross the divide to become universal.
Think Sally Mann, Emmet Gowin or Ozu on the family, Eggleston on the South or Mary Oliver on nature
Think Sally Mann, Emmet Gowin or Ozu on the family, Eggleston on the South or Mary Oliver on nature
11/ A focus on The Local fulfills the artist‘s primary purpose — to point a finger and say, 'look again'. Look at the things that were too close, too mundane, or too familiar to be visible to the unengaged eye.
12/ Finally, focus on The Local trains an artist's eye. By focussing on the cyclical and seasonal you begin to see the subtleties that were hidden behind the shallowness of your first impression
If you wanna see something new take the same walk you took yesterday
—John Burroughs
If you wanna see something new take the same walk you took yesterday
—John Burroughs
13/ All the images in this thread are from a forthcoming project called Proximity. The images were all shot during the COVID19 UK lockdowns and reflect my re-engagement with my immediate environment. Ma, yūgen and The Local have been helpful prisms through which to view the work
