randall bachner: webs waves & horizons

Somehow I forgot to bring my camera when I went to my dear friend Randall's photography show, Webs Waves & Horizons, at Ion Studio last month. The show was beautiful and I really wanted to share it here. This week I finally managed to get back to see it again, camera in hand! Luckily the show is up through August 24th so if you are in NYC you still have time to see it.

One thing I need to say immediately, is that I learned how hard it is to take photos of photos!! My reflection, as well as the reflections of everything in the room, were obscuring Randall's work to the point that the images I took were useless...you can see all these terrible reflections in the photo shown below. The colors are also much more vibrant and gorgeous in person.

I decided the best way to overcome this obstacle was to get really close and take detail shots of his work (left). My hope is that you will get at least a hint of what he has done, and be inspired to go see the show in person!

Randall took this photo of the horizon at sunrise from the window of an airplane. The colors are so beautiful, and the quality of the image gives it the feeling of a watercolor. I overheard many people at the opening say this was their favorite piece.

The images in the show are all intense examinations of nature. In contrast to the large scale images Randall also did two series. One was of a single spiderweb, which he photographed over a period of time as it slowly was destroyed by the wind. 

Spiderwebs are such an amazing feat of nature that you cannot help but be drawn in. The detail of the web itself is fascinating but so are the images. Because this particular web was set against a perfectly clear blue sky it is quite surreal. The lines of the web appear to be made of tiny dots, almost as if it had been created by a computer dot matrix rather than a living spider. On my second visit a group of us speculated on what caused this...was it a fine dew that had settled on the web? Or were we seeing a level of detail in the photo that we cannot see in real life?

The second series is of ocean waves. They were hung in a corner which added to the feeling of being surrounded by the water. These images capture the details of a "black tide" -- they were taken during a storm in Cape Cod last year. Individually they are beautiful but together they really tell a story, and have a greater impact.

I think my favorite images in the show might be the ones of sand, shown with Randall at the top of this post. They were taken at the beach during a hurricane (maybe not the safest idea) and as you look at them you are unsure where the line is between the grains of sand and the grainy quality of the photograph. The large scale of the prints adds to the effect. As you look at them you wonder where you are, but you can also just appreciate them as abstract art.

The show will be at Ion Studio through August 24th. Ion Studio, 41 Wooster Street, NYC. Tuesday - Saturday 10am-6pm. For more information contact Natia Dune: natiadune@ionstudionyc.com 

To see more of Randall's work you can visit his website: http://randallbachner.com

p.s. To add to the absurdity of me trying to take photos of Randall's photos, here is a picture Randall took of me taking pictures of his pictures!