Untitled (blue area)

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Untitled (blue area)

The Indecisive Moment
For the last two years I have been working on a series that I call "area photography". The subject matter I gravitate toward is unspectacular, and the images are a mischievous reaction to "epic" photography.. In area photography there is no "decisive moment": what is captured is a comma rather than an exclamation point.

This series is an exploration of the ephemeral, the peripheral. Questions are not answered; the story is implied but never spelled out. The images are not symbolic but merely present. The ambivalence I feel regarding the "monumental" or "significant" in art creates a tension between meaning and meaninglessness that is expressed in this work.

I work in found situations and with objects already present in the scene. Others may see fit to "de-ordinarize" their imagery, engineer it to produce a surreal or unfamiliar effect. I reject this convention.

The aesthetic behind area photography is ancient. It is in the Japanese tea ceremony, found poetry, flawed pottery. It is in the overlooked and the rejected. The periphery is moved to the center. Area photography simply says, "What about this?" BH
It is wisdom that sees the ordinary with amazement." – Lao Tzu

My website: http://www.herzco.com

some images for sale (reasonably!) at http://herzco.imagekind.com/herzcophoto