ASHES AND SNOW (have you seen it?)

saurora

Has anyone seen this traveling photographic exhibition "Ashes and Snow"? It's currently running in Santa Monica, CA. It looks and sounds awesome! (note: the site loads slowly, you need a good pc!) The photos are not manipulated in anyway by software. Amazing shots of people with animals.

http://www.ashesandsnow.org/en/exhibition/

DanielB

saurora wrote:

Has anyone seen this traveling photographic exhibition "Ashes and Snow"? It's currently running in Santa Monica, CA. It looks and sounds awesome! (note: the site loads slowly, you need a good pc!) The photos are not manipulated in anyway by software. Amazing shots of people with animals.

http://www.ashesandsnow.org/en/exhibition/

its amazing, when my parents went to Santa Monica for a convention for my dad's cop stuff they went to the exibit and bought me the handmade book of all her photos... its my favorite thing in my room besides my camera.

saurora

DanielB wrote:

its amazing, when my parents went to Santa Monica for a convention for my dad's cop stuff they went to the exibit and bought me the handmade book of all her photos... its my favorite thing in my room besides my camera.

What a great gift. The way they are bound look so cool. You can view and buy them online along with posters, cds, etc. This looks like one exhibit I don't want to miss.

http://www.ashesandsnow.org/en/bookstore/

Angelo

Lynn told us about this some time ago http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=9236&highlight=ashes+snow

I went to the exhibit today. I'll post a few pix in a little while.

Angelo

As much as I anticipated this exhibit of remarkable works by Gregory Colbert I must admit to being a bit disappointed by the selection of prints.

While his captures are indeed beautiful and none of the incredible juxtapositions of man and beast are digitally altered, they do appear much more staged than I had expected.

All of the images were also highly processed; lots of vignettes and tints. Most surprising was the amount of noise in the works. Considering the size of most of the prints you are left wondering if that's the result of the enlargements, even though the presentation suggests it is all very much on purpose.

What's nice is all prints are on canvas.

In addition to the presentation of prints are three live films, visual ballets of human and animal interaction. These were magnificient and certainly worth the price of admission ($15 adult)

What makes this exhibit really stand out as special is the exhibit space and the style of presentation.

The space, designed by architect Shigeru Ban, is constructed of stacked cargo containers and tenting



What appears as two buildings is actually one unified space sitting shore side in an old parking lot in Santa Monica.



Photography was not allowed inside but the space was beautiful and serene. Surprisingly, almost pitch black inside with very dramatic lighting.



(The above images were only my unedited .jpg thumbnails)

saurora

Angelo thank you for posting the photos of the "nomadic" exhibition. Now I know I definitely want to "experience" it. I noticed the extreme noise level in the shots on the website, and we are talking about a 4 x 6 size image on a screen. So, I can only imagine how pronounced it must be in those massive prints in person! Not my favorite technique either, but I guess it goes with the atmosphere he is attempting to create. I haven't seen that much of his work, except the few on his website, but they do appear "staged" to me. But most portraiture is at least a little staged. His work looks more to me like a dance or stage production in photographic print. I'll let you know my thoughts after I go.

Angelo

saurora wrote:

Angelo thank you for posting the photos of the "nomadic" exhibition. Now I know I definitely want to "experience" it. I noticed the extreme noise level in the shots on the website, and we are talking about a 4 x 6 size image on a screen. So, I can only imagine how pronounced it must be in those massive prints in person! Not my favorite technique either, but I guess it goes with the atmosphere he is attempting to create. I haven't seen that much of his work, except the few on his website, but they do appear "staged" to me. But most portraiture is at least a little staged. His work looks more to me like a dance or stage production in photographic print. I'll let you know my thoughts after I go.

There is no questioning his artistry, the work is stunning. One other thing - I was expecting.... um, never mind, we'll chat after you see the exhibit.

Malte

Angelo wrote:

There is no questioning his artistry, the work is stunning. One other thing - I was expecting.... um, never mind, we'll chat after you see the exhibit.

Please don't hold back Angelo. I'm in Sweden so I'll likely never see this in person.

Bodley

Angelo wrote:

The space, designed by architect Shigeru Ban, is constructed of stacked cargo containers and tenting

Is the space environmentally controlled? (It's the engineer in me)

Angelo

Malte wrote:

Please don't hold back Angelo. I'm in Sweden so I'll likely never see this in person.

well no big deal really it's just that most of the prints measured in the neighborhood of 30" or 40" (maximum) and considering the billboards all over Los Angeles and the suggestive language of his website, I was expecting images closer to 12' (4 meters)

The films were shown on 3 full size movie screens so they again proved visually spectacular.

Angelo

Bodley wrote:

Is the space environmentally controlled? (It's the engineer in me)

No Bodley it isn't. Being located on the shore in southern California the worst you could expect is a morning chill. Warm climate and a constant breeze keeps the space very comfortable, not to mention the 60' high canopy.

It's remarkable how tenting and black-out screens work so well to keep the space as dark as it is inside. I wish I could've taken one photo of the interior.

Very dramatic lighting creates the illusion that the images, which are suspended above beds of black river rock are simply floating in air.

Pathways of crushed granite are subtly lit by pinspot lights, leading viewers through the gallery.

Small shafts of sunlight breaking through irregularities in the screening only added to the dramatic lighting effect.