Event: Lobster Buoys as Art - Benjamin Williamson Photography
Location: The Gallery in Readfield, Maine - 1138 Main St.
Opening Reception: Sunday, August 11, 4-7 PM
On Display: Limited Edition Fine Art Photo Prints
Show Duration: August - September
Background
Some of you may remember the show I did at Sea Dog Brewing Company about 2 years after I first picked up a camera, I think around 2014. That show summed up a ‘greatest hits’ of images that I had created up to that point. It was a lovely event and really brought together the communities I was a part of both at Sea Dog, where I was working at the time, and fans of my photography, this new world I was suddenly a part of.
Over the last couple of years, especially after leaving Down East, I’ve considered putting together another show. This has coincided with a move away from sharing my images right away on social media, as well as naturally occurring new ways of working with a camera. Several distinct new bodies of work have come to life in this time, all of them unseen and untested.
Could I put together another ‘greatest hits’ type show? Sure. But, with all of this new work piling up, it seems like the perfect opportunity to go out on a limb and try something drastically different.
The new ways of working with a camera have included several new ways of seeing familiar subjects, that have by their nature, created distinct bodies of work. I’ve been sitting on this new work, much of it very different from what I’m known for, and letting it build up as I consider where it is taking me. Instead of one-off, knock-your-socks-off images, these work much better together in a series. Instead of shouting, these all seem to speak more quietly.
Those of you who are familiar with my work may see this as an obvious progression. My friend John Putnam said as much. Some of you may wish that I keep to my tried-and-true successful image making formulas, namely wide-angle scenes of local cultural landmarks, and exciting weather. I am and will always be fascinated with these subjects and ways of seeing, but I also cannot stay motivated in photography without trying something new.
To me, this is an exciting new direction, one filled with new challenges, opportunities, and a lot of uncertainty! I don’t know if there is a market for these new bodies of work, but I feel compelled to create them, anyways. I love seeing the world in new ways, and photography has been a perfect vehicle for my curiosity. I love putting four corners somewhere in my field of vision and arranging the elements within.
Artist’s Statement - Lobster Buoys as Art
I’ve admired and photographed lobster buoys for many years. I’ve been photographing them in harbors and where I find them washed up on the shore all over the coast of Maine. I love the textures, patterns, shapes, and colors. I love the way they weather and deteriorate over time.
When I started seeing these three-dimensional painted surfaces as a flat field, relating it very closely to how we traditionally view paintings, on a two-dimensional surface, they really came to life for me. Visions of Rothko and even Pollock came to mind as I considered how interesting they look when viewed this way.
The fact that buoys are painted and deployed for very utilitarian purposes only heightens my fascination. Their useful nature makes me like them even more. 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? 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. As mentioned before, I think of the different moods and personalities reflected in the colors and combinations of colors chosen. I think of the bigger theme of the passage of time and life at sea in the way that they are weathered. I think of decay, and renewal. The greatest theme or story may be that of humans imposing their will against nature, nature fighting back, and the constant battle that ensues. Who will come out on top? That remains to be seen, as far as I can tell.
Choosing the Images
To tell these stories, I knew I wanted to show a wide variety of buoy surfaces, from new, freshly-painted buoys to the extremely deteriorated. There seems to be a sweet spot somewhere in the middle, hence those making up the bulk of my images. 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 and in use, but also abandoned and tangled up in detritus along the shore in some areas. Sometimes they were displayed on walls in or near the harbor, proclaiming their proud colors, or perhaps, in their weathered glory, even telling some of the same stories I’ve alluded to earlier.
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.
Notes on the Capture Process
As I tried to capture buoys on flat fields reminiscent of paintings, I ran into some technical difficulties. Because of the three-dimensional nature of buoys, getting everything in focus was difficult to impossible in most cases. You naturally get fall-off in focus on the edges that show depth when working at any aperture at close range with any camera. I considered special techniques to overcome this, namely focus-stacking, but logistically this was impossible in most cases, and in the end I decided that photographing the buoys in the field as I found them, with the best technique I could achieve, would suffice. Sometimes seeing the truth of the dimensionality of these objects might be even desirable.
The Prints
These prints are available to those who can’t make it to the show through my website:
https://www.benjaminwilliamsonphotography.com/lobster-buoy-art
In fact, there are more images represented in this online gallery than I’ve printed for the show. I’ve made the images available in two sizes, and am offering them in a limited edition of 10 at each size. Once they sell out, I won’t be printing them again.
My Dad asked, why am I only offering a limited number of prints when I could print as many as I want from a digital file? Mostly, it’s because I’m trying to limit the amount of time I spend selling this new work. I spend over 50 hours a week in July and August filling print orders of my open edition prints for the various stores and shows around Maine, all by hand by myself. I cannot keep up. I’m also hoping to reach a new audience that values truly collectable photographs.
On that note, I’m also happy to share that I’m working with an amazing new printer, Paper Tides, which is located right down the road from my house. Emma Sampson, the owner, does amazing, high quality work, which I know you’ll see when viewing the prints. They are printed on some of the highest-quality paper available, Hahnemuhle Photo Rag. I hope you can see them in person.
The Gallery
Some of you may wonder why I’m having a showing of my work in Readfield, a tiny town in central Maine. The very simple answer is that the gallery owner is a friend.
If you cannot make it to the opening reception this Sunday, please send the gallery owner or myself a message to arrange a time to meet you if you would like to view the work. This is a non-business gallery, the owner does not take commissions. The gallery is open by chance or appointment. You can reach the gallery owner, who lives nearby, at 207-522-7325. I do not live nearby, but can make a trip for those of you who would like to meet me in person: 207-751-0129.
Thank you all for reading another long-winded email and for joining me in this journey. This has taken a surprising amount of courage to put myself out here with a new body of work that might completely bore my audience, but I’m excited by the possibility that it won’t. I hope you enjoy it.
Sincerely,
Ben
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I travel Maine and photograph some of the most beautiful and stunning landscapes and scenery in the country. I share photos of the week, location guides, regular features on how to get the most from your photography, and inspirational photo narratives.