I don’t know how it can get any better for this series. I went to the library thinking there might be something cool to photograph there. Maybe some books or something. I went to the art aisle (I’m glad I still remember the Dewey Decimal numbering for art: The 750s). I photographed the foil letter by some art books and felt pretty cool about it.
Then I thought I’d focus on one book. So I scanned the stacks for anything interesting. How much better can it get than this? A book on Gerhard Richter. His style of paintings seems fitting for these letters on foil.
I flip through the book and come across that painting in the Art Institute. Woman Descending the Staircase. Oh man. The painting depicts a woman, blurry, wearing a shiny dress. The meaning of Richter’s work fits so nicely with this series.
For the rest of the meaning, I’ll let the two-page letter speak for itself.
To capture both of these pages in one shot, my lens wasn’t wide enough. I needed to get to a higher position. I knew standing on the chair with my feet wouldn’t really be accepted in the library. Especially since I was at a table right in the middle of the reading area. Over to my right, I spied a stool by the DVD movies. Perfect! Libraries always have stools.
I scooted the stool over to the table to get a higher angle to photograph all the pages.
Hi Cathy,
This reflection comes to you at my local public library’s art section. Gerhard Richter in particular stood out. Especially, “Woman Descending the Staircase [Frau die Treppe herabgehend].”
On the surface, the motion, the reflections all mirror the very surface that I am writing to you. But there’s more
PAGE 2
… Richter took a photo and transformed it into a painting, carrying (transferring) the qualities of paint into the process. He introduces distortions.
Just as this aluminum surface carries distortions and brings a memory — although one ultimately lost. The painting no longer reflects in this surface. The woman in the painting is elusive, and so is this letter in your hands. Although we [have] photographic documentation of this experience, thus circling back to the original photo Richter used to create his painting.
Shine on always!
Matt Maldre
A week later at home, I still haven’t mailed this letter. I wanted to get another photograph of the second page in the reflections of the painting. The sun was shining bright on my front porch, so I set up the letter and the book in the hot hot sun.
This is the first time that I’m using light reflecting off the letter onto a surface. I knew the letter had this power to reflect light onto a surface. But I hadn’t used that yet. This was a prime time to start experimenting with this method. I can’t wait to use it in more letters.
