Wednesday 7 November 2012

INSPIRATION IN MINIMALIST PHOTOGRAPHY- PART ONE

Part One - Michal Rovner

 
©Michal Rovner

I remember the time I was first exposed to the art of Michal Rovner. I was still living in Maitland, NSW and I had driven to Newcastle with my mother to visit my grandfather who was in a nursing home dying of motor neurone disease.
On our way home, we stopped off at one of my favourite bookshops. As always, I wandered around and found that I wanted to buy half of the shop.
In the sale bin, I found a book that would forever change the way I would perceive art and in particular, photography.
The book was Michal Rovner – The Space Between. I am not exaggerating when I say that it completely changed my creative perspective.
©Michal Rovner

As a University student, I had zero chance of paying $50 for an art book. Lucky for me, my mother knew by the look in my eyes, that it was something special and so she purchased it for me.

Michal Rovner is a painter, photographer, video artist, and writer and is reportedly the world's most successful Israeli artist.

As an Israeli, Rovner's earlier work focused on the concept of borders, both national and cultural.

Her intense photography is frequently bleached of all identifiable features. It appears to be the product of a distant memory, a personal place distinctly removed from both time and space. The images identify with a strong sense of place – a bare landscape in the middle of a desert of nothing.


©Michal Rovner

For me, the subject matter was less important – I felt a strong pull from her images and I was able to connect with the image as an alternate, but perfectly viable perspective of reality.

Rovner is a varied artist as she works across various media. Her work has contstantly evolved over time.  A selection of her photographic work can be found on Artnet.

Also, another excellent collection of images in book format is her collection Fields.
If you are interested, in finding out more abot Rovner, I have managed to find a fantastic (and rare) BBC interview that you can read here.
Thanks to Michal Rovner for being an inspiration, because I feel comfortable photographing items for no other reason than to capture the colour and texture that is inherent to the item being photographed. There is something so special about seeing something intriguing and amazing in the commonplace and the familiar and being able to capture it for prosperity's sake.

©Michal Rovner


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