Earth Forms - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1904587747 ISBN 13: 9781904587743

Publisher: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

The most powerful and memorable images from Stephen Strom's collection of Southwest American landscapes, brought together for the first time. He captures the land, shaped by both millennial forces of prehistory as well as yesterday's cloudburst. The images compress vast desert spaces in an illusion of intimacy and comprehension, presenting undulations of colour and form which appear reimagined in a light that at once penetrates and sculpts. Having spent over two decades living in the desert, Strom exposes his unique sensibilities to capture this place.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Strom has spent his professional career as an astronomer. In 1964 received his Masters and Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard University. He held appointments as Lecturer in Astronomy at Harvard and Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. More recently Strom returned to Tucson as a member of the scientific staff at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Gregory McNamee's articles, essays, features, book reviews, poems, short stories, and commentaries have appeared in many journals and newspapers in the United States and abroad, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Outside, Backpacker, Sierra, Arizona Highways, Modern Maturity, and Science. He is a consultant, contributor, and contributing editor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica and its blog. Stewart's work has centered on the understanding of change and the exploration of significant developments in contemporary art. He has organized over seventy (70) exhibitions, including artists: Yves Klein, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist, Richard Anuskiewicz, Vincent van Gogh, and William T. Wiley. Stewart has a long history in higher education with national and international recognition as an accomplished artist/curator.

Reviews

Starred Review. The traditional template for landscape composition is widely inclusive: valleys, mountains, sky, clouds, people, animals, shrubbery, etc., but the photographic eye of Strom (Secrets from the Center of the World; Otero Mesa) sees natural landscapes as a medium for the exploration of form. Using the compositional vocabulary of cubism, Strom examines linear and two-dimensional relationships-lines, curves, ovoids, polyhedrons and other geographical abstractions-with painterly, square, deliberately-framed compositions. In these images, largely from the American Southwest, expanse and distance are never obvious: the sky never appears, so the mind seldom considers the view in three dimensions, perceiving instead a flat expanse. While some images celebrate the horizontal, the main focus is on the intersection of naturally occurring angular forms. Strom also uses color (often in plants) like Georges Braque and later artists: to outline, highlight, and emphasize contrasting forms and angles. With a few exceptions, these photos were taken in the desert southwest. Superfluous closing text by Albert Stewart is a prime example impenetrable contemporary art criticism, full of incomprehensible jargon. Taken on their own terms, these photos are a wonder and a challenge.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dewi Lewis Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1904587747
• ISBN 13: 9781904587743
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 94