Digital photographs, fine art prints (12x18") on Hahnemühle Photo Rag.
This project arose on a ship, with subtle hues all around, washed in the faintest of Arctic light. Pushing my camera to the limits, I was unsatisfied with the distorted colors and not-quite-sharp-enough details. I gave up on recording a realistic capture of the scene, and sought to illustrate only colors, shapes, and the essence of the experience, trusting that this alone would be enough to one day trigger my memory and transport me back to the high Arctic.
When images are distilled down to only the most basic elements of the landscape, it's easier to absorb the memory or the experience, and therefore easier to share. Viewers can bring their own foggy memories to each abstract interpretation of a place, and overlay their experiences, recalling something once dreamed or lived. Memory, and the fluidity of such, is sweeter in subtlety than in sharp detail.
All images are from my travels to and during The Arctic Circle artist's residency, in northern Norway and Svalbard. Over a period of several weeks, we explored the remote fjords, glaciers, and rocky terrain of Spitsbergen, creating in a new space each day and living aboard the sailing vessel Antigua.
This series was exhibited at Blue Sky Gallery at the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts as part of the 2018 Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers (April 5, 2018 to March 31, 2019).