Friday 1 April 2016

photographic abstraction #18

Although there is only one new motif in the latest group of images in my Photographic Abstraction series, the two photographs that are based on stained or discoloured walls are nothing like previous images. The same can be said of the two images based on cut tree stumps, while Surface of the Moon is sufficiently unusual that I don’t expect anyone to guess what it is actually a photograph of.

However, Follow the Flag is clearly a picture of peeling paint on a wooden door. In it, I see the shape of someone holding up a flag while glancing back over his shoulder to remind everyone not to wander off. It is a less than subtle dig at the lines of Japanese or Chinese tourists that I often see in Hong Kong and the rest of China diligently following their tour guide, who is invariably holding aloft a flag as a point of reference for his/her charges to follow.

follow the flag

Although Reclining Nude is not remotely on the same level as Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon or Braque’s Grand Nu, I do think of it as being cubist in style:

reclining nude

The title of the next picture should be self-explanatory, but you will have to look closely to see that it is derived from a sawn-off tree stump. The unexpected colours are a result of the wood being soaking wet at the time.

fire in the hold

Like Reclining Nude (above), the next picture is of a wall, but it is unlike any other wall I’ve ever photographed.

schism

The next image is very obviously a section of a tree stump, but the lines of short cracks perpendicular to the growth rings look to me like musical notes on a distorted stave, hence the title.

symphony in red and gold

Finally, everyone knows that the moon is made of green cheese, and here’s the proof:

surface of the moon

If anyone is interested in trying to work out the source of this image, here’s a clue: it is from the same type of source as Blood, Sweat and Tears (Photographic Abstraction #16). If you need another clue, look out for Sheep May Safely Graze in the next instalment in this series.

previous posts in this series
Photographic Abstraction #13
Photographic Abstraction #14
Photographic Abstraction #15
Photographic Abstraction #17

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