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ART
In touch: Ross's sole-ful photos
By Laura Parsons:art@readthehook.com
Like photographer Carol Ross, as a child I spent almost
every minute of every summer barefoot. I knew my world
through my feet: squishing warm tar between my toes,
resting my foot on the fur of our sleeping dog, skittering
across the blazing concrete at the local pool… all of us
share similar memories.
That common ground is the touchstone for Ross's
exhibition, "Souls of Our Feet: Exhibit II of the Nostalgia
Collection," currently on view at the Mudhouse. The 14
black-and-white and sepia-toned images gently spur
viewers to recollect tactile sensations, even as Ross's
careful compositions encourage deeper personal
responses.
"When I'm shooting," she says, "I'm always looking for
that connected, spiritual element. What connects us--
that's my goal as an artist."
Like Alfred Stiegletz in his portraits of Georgia O'Keefe's
hands, Ross frees the body part-- in this case, feet--
from its subjective ownership to create an accessible
language of experience and beauty. Unlike Stiegletz, she
adds touches of context, drawing our attention to the
exquisite nature of our most mundane moments, times
when it seems nothing special is happening.
In "Wet," three sets of feet, shot shin-down from the
side, dangle in the clear water of a swimming pool, their
toes just breaking the surface. Admiring the formal
aspects of the photograph-- how Ross has split the
image down the middle via the shadow cast by the pool's
wall, how the watery light refraction subtly curves the
ankles and elongates the feet, how the radiating ripples
play across the horizontal stripes created by each leg's
shadow-- I was overwhelmed with the memory of water
moving over and under my feet as I used to sit poolside
with friends during "adult swim."
"Cracked," one of Ross's strongest images, is almost
heartbreaking in its evocative, detailed layers. Shot from
above, a woman's bare feet extend from a fluttering dark
floral hem to stand on fractured stone slabs divided by
rough veins of gravel. Her big toes' chipped nail polish
mirrors the rocks' jagged edges. The floating edge of
her dress reflects the subtle surface of the stone and
balances the line of a slab in the upper right corner. Her
feet straddle two different fragments, with her left toes
edging into the pebbled trough between. Here is
sensation. Here is familiarity. Here is mystery.
Through her observant eye, Ross reveals that feet, too,
can provide windows to our collective soul.
A follow-up to "Exposed: Exhibit I of the Nostalgia
Collection," which hung at C'ville Coffee last August,
Carol Ross's "Souls of Our Feet: Exhibit II of the
Nostalgia Collection" is on display through June at the
Mudhouse. 213 W. Main St. on the Downtown Mall. 984-
6833.
ART
In touch: Ross's sole-ful photos
By Laura Parsons:art@readthehook.com
Like photographer Carol Ross, as a child I spent almost
every minute of every summer barefoot. I knew my world
through my feet: squishing warm tar between my toes,
resting my foot on the fur of our sleeping dog, skittering
across the blazing concrete at the local pool… all of us
share similar memories.
That common ground is the touchstone for Ross's
exhibition, "Souls of Our Feet: Exhibit II of the Nostalgia
Collection," currently on view at the Mudhouse. The 14
black-and-white and sepia-toned images gently spur
viewers to recollect tactile sensations, even as Ross's
careful compositions encourage deeper personal
responses.
"When I'm shooting," she says, "I'm always looking for
that connected, spiritual element. What connects us--
that's my goal as an artist."
Like Alfred Stiegletz in his portraits of Georgia O'Keefe's
hands, Ross frees the body part-- in this case, feet--
from its subjective ownership to create an accessible
language of experience and beauty. Unlike Stiegletz, she
adds touches of context, drawing our attention to the
exquisite nature of our most mundane moments, times
when it seems nothing special is happening.
In "Wet," three sets of feet, shot shin-down from the
side, dangle in the clear water of a swimming pool, their
toes just breaking the surface. Admiring the formal
aspects of the photograph-- how Ross has split the
image down the middle via the shadow cast by the pool's
wall, how the watery light refraction subtly curves the
ankles and elongates the feet, how the radiating ripples
play across the horizontal stripes created by each leg's
shadow-- I was overwhelmed with the memory of water
moving over and under my feet as I used to sit poolside
with friends during "adult swim."
"Cracked," one of Ross's strongest images, is almost
heartbreaking in its evocative, detailed layers. Shot from
above, a woman's bare feet extend from a fluttering dark
floral hem to stand on fractured stone slabs divided by
rough veins of gravel. Her big toes' chipped nail polish
mirrors the rocks' jagged edges. The floating edge of
her dress reflects the subtle surface of the stone and
balances the line of a slab in the upper right corner. Her
feet straddle two different fragments, with her left toes
edging into the pebbled trough between. Here is
sensation. Here is familiarity. Here is mystery.
Through her observant eye, Ross reveals that feet, too,
can provide windows to our collective soul.
A follow-up to "Exposed: Exhibit I of the Nostalgia
Collection," which hung at C'ville Coffee last August,
Carol Ross's "Souls of Our Feet: Exhibit II of the
Nostalgia Collection" is on display through June at the
Mudhouse. 213 W. Main St. on the Downtown Mall. 984-
6833.
| Links |
Mudhouse-"Souls of Our Feet": Exhibit II of the Nostalgia
Collection.
Collection.
Dot’s Daughter Designs - design firm specializing in
personalized handmade greeting cards, stationery, and invitations
personalized handmade greeting cards, stationery, and invitations
Pop: A Celebration of Black Fatherhood -
Photography book by Carol Ross, available now!!!!
Photography book by Carol Ross, available now!!!!
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Carol Ross, Photographer - Official Website of Carol Ross
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Cornel West: A Journey of Revelations -
Photography by Carol Ross.
Photography by Carol Ross.
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