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Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Samuel Burns long exposure photographs look to find a metaphorical space in which we place our feelings, emotions and experiences. His work is rooted in the landscape which he captures with an old large format 4 X 5 camera. If you were to come across him at work you’d find him under a dark cloth composing his picture on a ground glass and twiddling dials to adjust the rise, tilt and shift of the glass in order to create the right composition.
Often taking at least half an hour to set up, the film is exposed for at least eight hours in order to negate the textures of the scene; the water, clouds and light slowly painted onto the emulsion. The result are photographs that don’t represent a single moment but rather a progression of nature over time.
This waiting, this slow manifestation of an image, leads to a quiet contemplation and it is no surprise therefore that the very process of his work creates its own conceptual ideas. In this series called ‘Don’t Fall’ he ruminates over the death of his mother. Here’s what he has to say about the project:
Photographed in the months following my mother’s death, this series visually deviates from the airy nature in much of my work. Standing in a forest can feel lonely. The light seems far away and shadows engross you, if you allow them. It’s easy to become entangled in the detail of the shadows and even easier to descend deeper into them, making surreal the reality around you.
In these times I always remind myself to stay grounded. This series is a message to myself, don’t fall.
I translated this notion photographically by allowing the lens to physically fall over the period of a long exposure, as if out of control, yet at the same time guided by the constraints of the camera design.
