‘Lobster Buoys As Art’ Opening August 11th 3-5
Bio:
Bath, Maine photographer Benjamin Williamson isn't your traditional landscape and nature photographer. Instead of seeking places devoid of human presence, he likes to showcase our relationship to the natural environment. A lifelong love of cultural history and the weather combine in images that often feature man-made objects and landmarks in unusual conditions and beautiful light.
Ben studied photography while working nights tending bar. At first, he simply wanted to capture the beauty he was coming across on walks and hikes near his home. He quickly discovered that a photograph could be more than just a visual document of a moment in time. It could be a creative and expressive act, capturing his feelings about what is significant in the scenes in front of him. This hobby had evolved into a full-time profession within just a few years after he was hired to be the photo editor for Down East Magazine. His goal throughout has remained the same, to share the awe and wonder he feels and the deep sense of connection to the beauty that abounds in the world around us.
Artist Statement:
Lobster Buoys as Art
I’ve admired and photographed lobster buoys for many years. I love the colors, shapes, patterns, and textures. The fact that buoys are painted and deployed for very utilitarian purposes only heightens my fascination. I don’t think many lobstermen (a gender-neutral term in Maine) think that they are making art when painting them, but how can we not view them as such?
These objects can’t help but reflect the personalities of those who create them. Efforts to make them distinguishable from other lobstermen’s buoys become self-expressive. How can you not view the bright colors and envision energetic personalities, muted colors and see someone more reserved? How can you not notice the occasional flourish of a painted circle or a splatter of paint and imagine someone creative behind the brushstrokes? The carefully drawn line versus the quick and sloppy? The stamped letters and numbers versus the hand carved?
Of course, it’s not only the freshly painted buoys that attract me. The fantastic weathering that occurs over time creates an incredible visual, and tells a whole new story. Peeling paint sometimes reveals layers of other colors that were painted before. The ways that they deteriorate creates an astonishing variety of patterns and textures. Water, wind, sun, and physical strikes conspire to take a fascinating toll on the paint and substrate that forms the buoys.
All of this brings different themes and stories to mind. I think of the different moods reflected in the colors and their relationships to each other. I think of life at sea. I think of decay, the passage of time, and also, renewal. The greatest theme may be that of humans imposing their will against nature, and the constant battle that ensues. It seems like nature will have the final say. But, in many cases, the story isn’t over, as far as I can see.
Note on the images:
I have grouped the images from new, freshly-painted buoys to extremely deteriorated. They are titled by the fishing harbors they were found in.
I wanted to include the names of the lobstermen who painted each buoy, but the logistics of tracking them down seemed daunting to impossible in most cases. These were found not only on the docks, seeming to be in use, but also abandoned and tangled up in detritus along the shore in some areas. In the end, I decided to let the buoys tell their own story, and infer the identities of those who created them along with the processes that led to their current state.
Note on the capture process:
I chose to photograph the buoys not in their entirety, but as flat fields reminiscent of paintings. I thought of Rothko and Pollock in these studies of shape, color, and texture. Of course, you do get fall-off on the edges that reveal the three-dimensional nature of these objects. I considered special techniques to overcome this, but in the end decided that revealing the truth of the forms would honor the reality of my subjects in the end.
I used a digital camera to capture these and then prepared them on the computer. The colors were reproduced as I experienced them. No parts of the buoys were created artificially or taken away. I do not employ artificial intelligence. I felt it important to tell the story of the objects as they were found.
Benjamin Williamson
benjaminwilliamsonphotography.com
207-751-0129
Another wonderful OPENING happening this Thursday August 1st 5-7 at The Maine Jewish Museum in Portland. This is a community effort to bring about more awareness to the hostages still held in Gaza.
Hope you’ll join us
Peace Camille
‘BRING OUR LOVED ONES HOME’