The Journey
Images by Marita Gootee
The series Sand Shadows was created using the 6x9 multi-format Zero Image pinhole camera. The images were exposed at the 6x4.5 format. Exposure times ranged from 6 seconds to 15 seconds using both Ilford Delta 400 and HP5 120 film. The subjects were located on a beach and moved with the pull of the surf. The camera was on a mini tripod braced on my hip as I stood in the surf or it was placed on the sand and removed as the tide hit the shore. The combination of both the subject and the unstable human tripod being pulled by the force of the tide created images that are mystical and dreamlike.
The final prints are small. They are 2 1/4 inches by 3 1/4 inches and
printed on 5x7 Agfa Multigrade FB118 surface photographic paper. Each image is delicately hand tinted with Prismacolor pencils with a touch of quick drying linseed oil. The use of color adds to the formation of the dreamlike quality of the Sand Shadow imagery.
The terms such as dreamlike, memory, mystical and more have been used to describe these images. They are not images frozen in time as are so many other photographs. Rather they are a blending of time and self-reflection. Sand Shadows with its blurred imagery and hints of color are fragments of the moment. They have a touch of romance for a memory or an emotion.
The images permit travel within a memory as the viewer is swept by the visual motion and timeless quality. The images are much like the subject as it blends with the ocean and is drawn out to the sea. The surf cannot be stopped or held back by man. Neither can time.
The images span the length of time beyond the experience of the moment. This is the drama that merges with the senses that challenges the memory. Every fragment of a given day can be re-interpreted and re-examined by the mind to re-create the event being recalled. This is a dynamic mental activity that one should embrace for the experience of creating new imagery.
These images are available in a Blurb Book: SAND SHADOWS
Original Prints are available by going to my website: maritagooteephotography.com
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