|
Ice
February 2006
This winter has had some unusual warm spells, but in our mountains we still have had plenty of snow and ice. In this month’s portfolio we see different manifestations of ice in our winter landscape.
Our cover image, “Frozen Droplet” by Loraine Arnold, was runner up for our 2005 annual photography contest, and is one of those lovely shots with an enormous icicle reaching down to the dark empty space below. Icicles are always wonderful subjects for the camera eye, and this image is particularly striking. The enormous icicle has a beautiful shape, and the lines on its surface somehow seem as if nature has been copying Jackson Pollock’s ingenious forms!
On the left side of the first spread, there is a very different image. Called simply “Frozen,” the photograph by Richard Bruner shows frozen brown leaves on a stem in a harmonious composition. These leaves make an interesting composition against the white background. The photograph on the right, by the same photographer, shows us what a tree looks like “After the Ice Storm,” with a lacy complexity of icy branches.
We see complexity again on the left side of the next spread, where photographer Russell Bromberg shows us “Ice Canyon,” with its countless icicles hanging from rocks that must during warmer months form a busy waterfall. And on the right David Jeffery shows us what he calls “Ice Climbers,” where we can see a tiny figure standing high on a cliff with a companion below watching and holding a rope.
Another brave sportsman in shown on the next spread in an untitled image by Matt Petricone. Here we see an ambitious climber reaching the top of the ice with a bright blue sky above. And on the right, Violet Snow shows us images of “Creek Ice,” with frozen droplets that almost look like light bulbs hanging from the air. What extraordinary shapes!
In our final image, we see what photographer Robert J. Near calls “Hard and Soft Waters.” Hard ice is all around the waterfall, but the soft water keeps flowing with full force. The photograph has a lovely composition with the curving dark areas forming an impressive frame around the falling waters.
--David Finn
|
