The Intersection of Art and Science

Feb 06, 2022

The Intersection of Art and Science

 

Starting in August of 2020 I focused daily on the moon.  I tell people all the time I focused on the moon for 100 days and I did, for 100 days almost daily with the exception of like 3 or 4 days of bad weather I photographed the moon in the day, night, created time lapses and sought out one artsy sort of landscape with the moon.  The reality is it never really stopped.  Oh, sure I might go a week and not photograph the moon but almost every chance I get to get a new photo of the moon or improve on a photo of a phase of the moon (I am still learning new things).  So even last night I photographed the moon.  I guess I will for the rest of my life.  Luna is not just a moon; she is a friend.

Do you know what my biggest challenge ended up being in photographing the moon for over 100 days straight?
Photographing high resolution images so I could blow them up to billboard side required me to learn new software (which is a bit complicated). It required me to learn a whole new style of photography. It required learning about the science of the moon and how to point my camera at compass point exactly (to get the moon on the horizon exactly).
But none of that was the hard part. Remember I was shooting from my yard mostly. Health kept me home and from driving most days. The hardest part was coming up with new shots. I mean how many ways is there to shoot a full moon from the same angle.
This is something many photographers struggle with. You reach a point when you feel like you shot EVERYTHING around you. But that is never the case. Often when I feel this way. I will take a walk in my neighborhood with my camera and seeing with new eyes. There was once a wise man who talked about looking but not really seeing.
 
To me, this is what being a using my camera as an artist is all about. Being a photographer is less about technical mastery of your camera and learning how to edit (both extremely important) than it is about learning how to see. A great photographer once said his most important piece of equipment was his eyes.
 
 
So, what do you do when you have created an enormous body of art? After all I have almost 4000 high resolution images of the moon as art, in landscape and all the phases and several lunar eclipses documented and 100's of time lapses. I didn't have a plan when I started out, I was doing it because I was stuck home and wanted to learn something new and well hey, I could shoot the moon from my back yard! But now what? Well, how about an art show?
 
Confession, this show that I am doing at Against the wall isn't the full deal. I love this gallery, but it is too small for the body of work. But it allows me to run the flag up the pole so to speak and see what it looks like. Already, I am working on a much larger show and calendar release (shhhhhhh don't tell anyone) But This show is going to be a good one! I am really proud of how it is coming together.
 
Here is the thing about doing a solo art exhibit, they are a lot of hard work. I have done over 30, actually closing in on 40 solo gallery or museum art exhibits. But the only thing I have done since the pandemic is a few groups shows and those the gallery curated the art so all I did was show up. Doing a solo show is a bit different. The show itself is art. I try to think of each piece in the show like a word in a sentence so that the show itself has a cohesion and flow. Thus, the artist statement for a show.
 
 
The other part of this exhibit that is very important
 
Kindhouse Ukraine Bakery
 
Glenda Moore of Amarillo has firsthand knowledge of the Ukraine and how war has torn that country and caused everyday folks like you and I to struggle just to get the basics like heat in the winter.  The show is going to help her help those folks with the limited-edition print.  $35 from every print sold will go to help her charity.  Here is an amazing story by Texas Country Reporter on what she is doing:  Kind House Bakery (Texas Country Reporter) - YouTube
 
I hope if you are around in Amarillo, you will come see the show, even if you can't make the opening, it will be up for a few months.