  |
 |
COLLECTIONS: FINE ARTS | NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHT |  |
||||||||||||||||
With his camera, Wood captures an intimate moment with a familiar subject. Wood removes the distractions of our environment to reveal the forgotten details that surround. He forces the viewer to focus on the very thing that might normally elude his/her attention and offers a look at the pieces rather than the whole. In a world filled with visual images moving in rapid succession, we do not capture the details of Wood’s camera lens. Wood often turns to the human figure for inspiration. Rather than full-length portraits, he chooses to concentrate on hands, faces, or toes. While in Untitled (From Hand Series), the subject is easily identifiable, often Wood’s photos require contemplation and intense focus in order to obtain recognition of the subject. The artist remarked that, “Photography allows me to extend the transfixed sense of wonder felt when confronting something which stretches our comprehension and inspires awe.” Even with a recognizable subject, the forced focus causes the viewer to respond inquisitively and to attempt deeper comprehension. Are they the hands of a man, a woman? Are they the hands of a young person or a life-experienced elder? Do they show the signs of hard work or catered pampering? Do they ache with stiffness, clasp with joy, fold in peaceful rest? These are not comprehensions the viewer would normally strive to gain; one’s views are altered, our busy lives stopped, our focus redirected. As individual as the perspectives they present, no two of Wood’s photos are the same. Each photograph is hand altered through bleaching, development process, or local coloring. A process that requires the same attention to detail that is celebrated in his subject selection.Click on the links below for a look at previous Fine Arts Highlights. August Highlight
Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. ®2005 SMPA Terms of Use/Copyright |
|
