Here’s a recent show that I really enjoyed – actual landscape photography shown in a contemporary exhibit. There is some hope – and it’s a show worth seeing. Ross has pushed the envelope of quality film photography in making huge – estimated to be 5 x 10 feet – color prints of a Mount Sopris in Colorado under different lighting/weather conditions. To make these extreme size prints, the photographer converted a 9 x 18 aerial camera. This show at AMOA demonstrates a new level of realism in a moving way.
On the black and white side, two series of this Austin Museum of Art show really stand out. First is a series of waves titled ‘Hurricanes’, where Ross had created super detailed 4 x 5 foot silver gelatin prints of waves breaking hear the shore of Long Island. The fast shutter speeds stop the action of the waves and water drops, recalling some of Doc Edgerton’s high speed strobe work. These are fascinating studies of the earth at work.
On the minimalist side, an intriguing series title ‘Grain’ alludes to the granular nature of film based photography. The large prints are perfect rectangles of a single color of gray, reproduced photographically by photographing directly into a light source at various exposure settings. Ross gives a good interpretation of Ansel Adam’s Zones and a reminder of the real underlying structure of B&W film photography.
Don’t miss this excellent Austin show. It runs through May 17th at AMOA, 823 Congress St., Austin.
