Google Reader Response 2

This week I decided to discuss the blog post about Heidi Romano from Lenscratch. Before I even started reading I thought that the aesthetic of her forest images were mesmerizing. Romano transforms a simple tree or a hillside into atmospheric emotive compositions. With each photograph, she draws the viewer’s attention to something so simply beautiful which may have otherwise passed unnoticed. When I began reading about the work, I gained more appreciation for the content. The photographs have a sense of fleetingness which made more sense as I understood the artists interest in time passing. Her interest in continually changing light reminded me of impressionist paintings. Initially I felt a sense of wonderment at the beautiful vast landscape. Upon understanding that one of the photographs unintentionally depicted a crime scene, the photographs became menacing and quiet. I thought of the romantic concept of the sublime and considered the rarities of finding such astonishment and fear in our contemporary world.

Moving onto her imagery of water, Romano mangers to create something both familiar but strange. While most of the photographs clearly depict water, there is something out of this world about them. Using a black background calls to mind the dark abyss of space flickering with stars (or water in the case of the photographs). They almost don’t seem to be situated within a particular place or time. These photographs are their own type of landscape hinting at a similar awe and fear as provided in the forest images.