Avant Gardens ed. 4
Welcome to Avant Gardens, a blog/newsletter where I explore all things strange, experimental, and exciting in the arts.
I think this month might inadvertently be all photographers! It wasn’t an intentional choice, but everything that seemed to grab me lately just happened to be stills, particularly if they were looking as if they had been a bit distressed by nature or time. Bit of a quick one from me since I’m so busy with the start of semester/travelling, but I hope you still enjoy :)
Chris Marker - La Jetée (1962)
Semester has begun and I’m back teaching. This film was part of the Week 1 content for an experimental media subject and I just: wow. Really loved it, really connected with it. 99% of the film is photographic stills with music and dialogue. You would think it might be therefore limited compared to traditional film, but I found it so immersive, and some of the moments really made my hands sweat. David Lynch apparently said he was inspired by this film, and I can definitely see the influence in his work (which I also love).
Masao Yamamoto - Kawa=Flow #1589
Yamamoto is a contemporary Japanese photographer known for his attention to delicate details and evocative qualities. His body of work is as vast and dynamic as it is sweet but also strange - I can’t quite put my finger on it. I particularly love the harsh contrast between light and dark that he features in some pieces, such as this shot of the white wave wash and black abyss. A lot of his work I find gentle, but this image pulses with power and strength. He also has several photography books! You can see some more of his stuff here.
Meghann Riepenhoff - Ice #375 (-3-35℉, Colorado River, CO, 12.19-20.2021) (2021)
I happened to accidentally come across Riepenhoff’s work when I was exploring the same gallery site that features Yamamoto’s work: and what a wonderful surprise it turned out to be. This piece is a cyanotype - but unlike any I have ever come across before. When I gaze at it, I feel like I am buried deep beneath an icy lake, with the light from the sun appearing through the thinner shards of ice. So much of the art I seem to connect with is that which brings me into quiet, solitary existence. Interestingly, my buried lake theory isn’t too far off:
“[t]his work is made in collaboration with the landscape, where elements from water and the shore physically inscribe into the photographic materials. Made in waters ranging from Walden Pond to remote creeks in western Washington, the prints are full of subtle details, each expressing a slightly different temperature, type of water, and crystalline structure of ice forming on photographic paper.”
(Quote taken from her website, which I will link here).
Sara Silks - Left Handed Pitch (2022)
I love Sara’s work so so much… I even have a copy of her book (which came out several months back). There’s something so lonely, mysterious, magical about it all. I could sit in them for hours. Please check out the rest of her marvellous stuff at her website.
Oriana Confente - Exercises in seeing as a leaf (2023- )
Confente describes this process herself as an “Ongoing investigation of alternative photographic methods in pursuit of sustainable darkroom methods. Phytography is a more-than-human method of image-making. It uses the internal chemistry of plants through a low-toxicity, biodegradable development process.”
I just find it fantastic - sustainability, found objects, environment, nature & earth, and abstract imagery. What more could I wish for? You can see more of her stuff at her website here.
We reach the end of another month. I hope you’ve enjoyed all things shared in this edition, I’ll see you next time with more cool art to share :)
