BE THEREElger Esser 2007Presented by Sonnabend March 31, 2007- April 21, 2007Reception: March 31, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pmElger EsserOn March 31, 2007 the Sonnabend Gallery will open an exhibition of new works by Elger Esser – photographic landscapes and seascapes taken mostly in France. Elger Esser has said about his work: Photography today fulfills requirements that were formerly covered by painting. When, in 1996, I devoted myself to landscape photography, my first pictures entailed for me a rediscovery of painting and I set about looking for models – be they Canaletto, Courbet, Lorrain or a section from a Renaissance fresco. Today these references are only rarely visible. We live in an age of acceleration but for me it is the small differences which are important like those that emerge in the countryside when you travel. I am interested in capturing and preserving subjective memories, time, tranquility. I work quite deliberately with blurred images using long exposure times. The mobile elements in the picture - the water, the trees, the clouds - do things with the film which I can only influence in part. Sometimes I photograph when dusk is falling, when the light is completely diffuse and later on brighten the picture in the lab. For me, this use of technology is only a background aspect. I concentrate more strongly on the contents of the images. What does it mean to stand at the water’s edge? What happens if the elements in the picture – trees, sky or water - interact with symmetries and surfaces, with harmony and disharmony?
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