I confess to taking refuge in the woods even prior to the Covid pandemic. But it was during the pandemic and lock down that refuge became the operative term. Between the media bombardment of dangers of every size and shape, and having very few alternatives, my habit of entering the woods with camera became compulsive. It lasted longer and went deeper than it might otherwise have gone. At times the harshness from the outside crept into the imagery. And my clear favorite was the bleak winter landscape.
I began exploring what I could do with the Arches Text paper I so love to print on. I have always enjoyed the simplicity of the single fine print in photography. Forming it into a folio/open book form felt good under these circumstances. It accentuated the paper, as well as the act of entering the woods, of being welcomed into a place of calm, quiet and mystery. But when I thought about the act of taking refuge, the next step was to consider from what and how to depict it.
As it happened, I was dissatisfied with placing the folios on blank, conventional backgrounds. Perhaps I felt a little guilty about taking refuge when many couldn't. If I somehow addressed worldly troubles on these backgrounds, that might be the ticket. Hence the beginnings of sewing the woodland folios to prints of imagery of concern, as signatures are sewn to book covers. I was uncomfortable at first to make the backgrounds too strong, but eventually allowed them to compete forcefully with the photograph on top, adding complication and conflict.
This culminated in Viral Ecstasy, the accidental and shocking invasion of the landscape by a background Covid graphic! By this time, I was using the digital mock-ups of book forms as well as the actual sewn pieces. Eventually, graphics and typography pushed out the photographs altogether. These Variants use the letters of the Covid protein sequence to explore (with artistic license) the fascinating phenomenon of random mutation which enables living things to adapt. As this project continues, I am moving on to explore other challenges and issues as background to the peaceful (for now) woodland photographs.
EAF 2023
