Ian Talbot: Retrospective – Onion :: Objectivity
Chapter 40 of the ongoing series Ian Talbot : Retrospective by British fine art photographer Ian Talbot.
Onion :: Objectivity
© Ian Talbot
“It isn’t necessary for a work to have a lot of things to look at, to compare, to analyze one by one, to contemplate.” Donald Judd
I guess my tastes have always gravitated towards the minimalist. In my own work I mostly aim for a kind of spare elegance, as I said yesterday, I have always been greatly influenced by Penn and Avedon in particular which I guess is reflected in that preference. Naturally, this is not to everybody’s taste but, for me, a great many images I see or have seen are, for want of a better term, too “busy” for my liking. Maintaining clarity of purpose in such images, often with multiple centres of interest as they are, is not an easy feat to perform. A few do it well, most fail dismally. I find it difficult…
I suppose, therefore, the image shown here is fairly typical of my output. Created about a year or so ago now, practically the only problem involved was balancing the two elements in the bottom of the frame. There is little or no inducement to the eye to wander, just, I hope, a kind of visual satisfaction and elegant balance. Simplicity isn’t always so “simple” to achieve but I’m reasonably satisfied that I have done so with this relatively undemanding image.
Ian Talbot
- Index : Ian Talbot: Retrospective
- Ian Talbot website – Objectively Speaking
- Ian Talbot :: Notes In Passing
Text & image © Ian Talbot
Next : Chapter 41 : Grass :: The Natural Order
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