Vermont 1

The lines of oil and underlying marble at a Vermont marble open pit mine

are not the most beautiful elements or combination, but I was attracted by

their imposing abstract signature together. Thanks for looking.

Love it. The longer I look at it, the more I appreciate it. A picture that has all the texture and feel of oil on canvas and yet achieved through the purely photographic. Besides the photograph being the photographer's intentional creation, it's almost like if the subject photographed was made in an act of creative and expressive consciousness too, complete with all the palpable brushstrokes of creation underneath the cracks of "decay". A symbiosis, a mirror, a beautiful paradox of some sorts, and an observer that is the observed.

Phylo, thanks for your critique. These stained marble cuttings in an open pit quarry had a palpable presence in both more distant (like this one) and closer views of them. Your comments are instructive as I am still trying to understand my own response to them, proof I guess that they were made mostly out of curiosity for this not often seen oil and rock scenario and without much deeper thought than that of the textures and forms.

I'm glad you took the time to visit this one. It gave me a chance to view your own intriguing portfolio in the bio section of your photo.net address. There is a lot there and I particularly like the great abstract window images 2 and 3 that contain a fascinating triangular shape reflection over what looks like a scene that Niepce photographed from his house window. Those photos have a life.

Browsing through your portfolio after reading your comment in Steve's current thread, this one caught my attention and it's hard to say much more after Phylos' great comment. I'll add that the soft, pastel color palette and the seeming play of light adds so much dimension. Wonderful that Phylo mentions brushstrokes, as they can be amazingly experienced in a photographic context as well as one of painting, though somewhat different. The strong geometry is softened by those brushstrokes. There's both a brute strength portrayed here but joined by sensuality, a great (and rare) combination.

Fred, thank you for your comments on how the subject and its interpretation affects you. The oil on the marble probably contributes to the sensuality, as well as the particular interaction of the tones of it and the stones.

Overall, though, my day at the quarry was more a sum of missed opportunities than anything else, although I am going back to look again at the series of images to see what can be found (the quarry is some 300 miles from my place so the chance of going back again to do more photography soon may be remote), which were taken as part of a series called "Mineralia" (sorry to repeat something that may have been said earlier), which is still in the making but which I admit I am struggling with. My objective is to make a series in the manner of, and inspired by, your very successful book of images.