by sepia memories
Meandering thoughts inspired by Jean’s sepia photos:
the trials and pleasures of ink drawings in art school days, too long ago
the ecstasy of seeing exquisite and fragile drawings by the Old Masters,
in the Drawing Room of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, fifteen years ago
old Chinese landscape paintings of steep mountains and gorges
January 22, 2008 in Being an Artist, Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
Ooh. I love these, of course.
Tamarack! This reminds me of Malcolm Lowry’s line from Forest Path to the Spring, describing a night where “pines made a Chinese poem on the moon.”
Jean, of course. Thanks for the inspiration!
Peter, what a coincidence! Malcolm Lowry and his second wife lived off and on from 1940-1954 in various shacks on the beach, just near where I took these photos. There’s a path and stone marker named for him. AND it was last night while awake during a full moon that I thought of writing this.
The etchiness of these make them good for sepia. I’ve been thinking about sepia lately, I used to think it was a bit artificial, pretentious, in modern photography, but I’m not so sure now. I’ve seen some good things lately. I’ve not seen Jean’s yet…
Their delicacy at this time of year, with those tiny bumps of leaf buds (I’m assuming) look forward to glorious new growth. I love the way that the ‘drawing’ quality of such photos makes one look at the sky too.
Why do these images make me think of trying desperately to hold on to that which is, by its very nature, impossible to hold?
Back to the buddha and the impermanence of all?
These forms are so well suited to sepia — the suggestion of the drawn line.
Lucy, you too?! I look forward to seeing what you do with sepia.
Olga, yes, the negative spaces interested me too, and the whole seemed to work well in sepia.
Mouse, the ephemeral does leave those feelings with us, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s why we try to capture these moments with the camera, and burn them into memories.
MB, how wonderful that you dropped by! Glad you agree that the line quality looks good in sepia.
These are lovely. The sepia makes them seem all the more earthy, I think. But they’re also ethereal somehow – maybe because there’s nothing behind them, as if in fog.
Leslee, I think sepia is very earthy. I loved drawing with sepia and sanguine. The ethereal feel may be more to do with the way I photographed it, with the background out of focus, but yeah, I like that, thanks!