Image City Photography Gallery
Black and White Invitational: November 2014
Peter’s Picks by Peter Marr
This is an amazing image of a plant bursting forth in all its glory and delicacy, captured at a peak moment in an incomparable manner by an artist who has an unsurpassed love and passion for nature, particularly taking superb close-ups that reveal extraordinary fine detail that few have been privileged to see. One would yearn to learn of the plant’s life story and to understand its language, but of course at this time it is not possible. Thankfully, we have Susan’s remarkable print that illustrates the last stages of this narrative. Here we experience a large seed pod, powerfully displayed on an entrancing diagonal line, bursting forth to release its seeds. This is a pod that has lovingly sheltered its precious cargo through an infinite range of climatic conditions, and has fostered a protective-paternalistic feeling for the seeds for a considerable time. The artist has captured the magical moment when the pod opens, and the seeds, with their silky parachutes that are superbly captured in this image are left to dance playfully together, before the wind plucks them into the air. One by one, the progeny of the plant drift off to an unknown destination, all hoping for a soft landing in perhaps moist soil, where they can eventually take root and successfully propagate the species. There is an impressive interplay of tonalities as well as the inspired use of the positive and negative space from the incorporation of the vibrant foreground and the black background. The vivid whites play against the dark grays and the black surround to create an artistic setting that results in a dramatic impact, together with the fact that the high contrast adds to the overall brilliancy of the image. Nature would be incredibly proud if they could see this print, that one of its magnificent creations has been captured so artistically and so inspiringly.