"Leaves and Sticks”
When I started this group of pictures, I was thinking about a new way to express an image for myself. I start by using the camera with a cinematic feel; meaning I am in motion all the while I am taking still pictures. This I call the document of the act of seeing photographically.
A passage from Michael Frayn’s “Spies” gives an idea of what happens. “What I remember, when I examine my memory carefully, isn’t a narrative at all. It’s a collection of vivid particulars. Certain words spoken, certain objects glimpsed. Certain gestures and expressions. Certain moods, certain weathers, certain times of day and states of light. Certain individual moments that seem to mean so much but in fact so little until the hidden links between them have been found.”
These images come from various parkland settings, from Oahu, Hawaii to the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. Leaves, sticks, sky become a rich palette altered by scale and focus that makes an image that has a composite feel filled with saturated color. I look forward to further examination of this way of forming images, possibly with other subject matter
"Leaves and Sticks" is an on going series of work with no set number of total images. Color work is printed on Matte surface paper. Sizes include: 11.5 inch sq. on 19x13 paper in an edition of 10. 22 inch on 24 inch sq. paper in an edition of 4. A larger work may also be available. All images are copyright John Back
