Homage to Tarkovsky

Here's a photo that brings to mind some of Tarkovsky's films. I used to love Tarkovsky, mainly for the beauty of the imagery and the way music and images are combined.

I saw his films first when I was 16 through to 22, and they appealed to me enormously. I liked their immense seriousness, and their extraordinary craftsmanship. They seemed both tremendously original, and yet ancient. Then, about 20 years later I saw several of them again.

I could still enjoy the films' aesthetic qualities, but found the reactionary messages in Nostagia irritating and silly. Of the films, the more abstract Mirror then seemed the most satisfing because it avoids the preaching, anti-humanistic tendencies of other Tarkovsky films.

Pastoral

Some more images from the recent "Homage to Corot" series.

Homage to Corot

A very bright day, but not too warm. I'm working on a series of pastoral photos, which will go in a Flickr set as "Homage to Corot".

Corot is one of those 19th century painters whose work has fallen by the wayside. Wildly popular in his time, its difficult to imagine it being rediscovered by the 21st century gallery going public. In truth there are a fair number of dubious quality Corots, and the work lacks intellectual complexity. And the contemporary public probably wants something much more dramatic. However, I have often found his work beguiling.

The smell of mud and the distant sun made me think of the woods round Aberdeen, where I grew up, while I was out taking photos today.