"Fracked" Image # RO-9576
Often when working with my rock abstracts, I will rotate, zoom in and zoom out of these intricate patterns looking for something to make a connection to something other than the literal subject I am photographing. After all, I see this series as not just looking closely at rocks, but how they have a great similarity to images taken from satellites. That to me implies a great connection in the processes of nature – big and small.
Symbolic titles for abstracts also have me with a bit of mixed feeling. In some ways, I would like people to see what they want to see in them, without any guidance from me. On the other hand, I often see very specific things or themes in these patterns, and think part of the art is in conveying that. I am leaning more towards the latter lately, and if someone sees something differently, then so be it. (more…)
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From the Drip Period or the Jurassic Period? Abstract rock photo by Mark Graf
I am quite backlogged on my Inspired by Stone project. I have been collecting various pieces of stone over the years such that my office is beginning to resemble a small rock quarry. The problem is, I have been collecting them faster than I have been able to photograph them all.
This is a rather large piece of Cherry Creek jasper. When I say large, I mean about 4 inches by 3 inches or so. The characteristics that attracted me to this piece were that it resembled some abstract expressionism work by painter Jackson Pollock. Pollock became more well known when his abstract paintings were published in Life magazine in 1949. His paintings were created not by brushes, but by dripping paint onto a canvas on the floor. It was declared quite an original approach at the time. The cracks, splotches, and lines in this piece of stone reminded me of those very drips.
I am sure people would contemplate what he saw in his mind, why he created this line vs. that splotch in that spot. I wonder similar things. What was going on in the Earth when this line was formed, or that black spot? What made this red flow next to this yellow?
These drips and splotches were formed well before anyone ever heard of Jackson Pollock, or perhaps even human beings or art. I highly doubt Pollock was inspired by slices of stone, but I find it quite interesting how there can be such a close resemblance. (more…)
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Heart of the Stone
Things have been busy around the “corporate offices” (ahem!) of Graf Photography, with the unfortunate casualty of keeping the blog going. I had to lay off my writing staff to replace them with printing and imaging technicians to keep up with the recent order rush. My accounting department has been busily processing print orders that have been just constant over the past 2 months.
Art sales over the internet is still alive and well. In parallel, my IT department has been scouring the web to find a fitting new blog template as I am growing tired of this one. They submitted some proposals for my review, but the search remains ongoing.
I am thinking of adding some field helpers to the staff. I haven’t been out much since the weather turned cold – freezing in fact. I have to keep an eye on all the activity around here. Some of staff can be quite high maintenance, requiring too much management oversight. But I was thinking about how much more motivated I may be with some helpers lugging gear for me, catering hot beverages and the occasional hot sandwich. I’ll have to hold a few staff meetings on this.
So when the employees have gone home for the night, and things settle down – I get to work on a few images. :-) The recent one in this post I titled “Heart of the stone”.
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Fantasy Tree, inspired by Royal Sahara Jasper
Probably the one thing that has drawn me into making abstract photographs of rocks is pure mesmerization at the details and patterns created by ancient geological activity. I wouldn’t think this is the first thing that comes to mind when people think of the subject of geology.
Who would have thought seemingly benign activities (or to the contrary, grand scale planet forming activities!) could end up in such a way? But as with anything else, it is looking under the surface appearances that reveals incredibly intricate patterns and details. The outside of this stone looks like any brown rock you might kick on the side of the road.
When I think about if I could ever paint (if I could paint!), or anyone for that matter, such a thing from a blank canvas, I gain even more appreciation. There should never be any question why so many artists are inspired by nature.
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Morrisonite hillsides
I have finally spent some time catching up on some of my rock abstracts. This time I have added some Morrisonite photos to my gallery. Morrisonite is a particular type of jasper found in Oregon’s Owyhee desert. The story has it that it was originally on the property of an old hermit, James Morison back in the late 1940s. Once the colorful jasper became public knowledge, his land was flooded by rockhounds, commercial interests, and trespassers until ultimately it took blasting and heavy equipment to get to the jasper that was left.
I read no one knew what happened to James Morison, he sort of just disappeared. I find it fascinating that my photographs of today are somehow connected to this old hermit in the hills of Oregon who lived over 60 years ago. The area where this jasper is found is reported to be quite rugged. I saw a rugged landscape in this image, and the blood red color symbolic of how man can rip at this planet’s natural treasures.
This image was captured wet, using a Nikon D700, 200 mm f4 macro lens, and cross-polarized Nikon R1C1 macro flashes to eliminate reflections and glare. Post processing in Adobe Lightroom 2 and Adobe Photoshop CS3. More pictures of Morrisonite and other abstract macro landscapes can be found in my gallery.
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