Woodpile with Powerlines

Woodpile with Powerlines (2021)

This is more of a romantic notion than an accurate representation of a scene. To me, it’s a personal story rather than a work containing dramatic light or a moment of fascination. Everything in the image has been included and excluded deliberately to achieve the feeling I wanted it to invoke when I look at it.  For me, this image is a long stare rather than a quick scroll on the screen. I must have looked at it for a good hour, making sure I completely understood it before finishing it.

Fence Post in Marsh Land

Fence Post in Marsh Land (2021)

This is another image of a theme and idea I’ve been developing and exploring recently. It expands off last week’s images that were called Peninsula Bus Stop with Dry Grass, Scott Hall and Shearing Shed and Load Ramp. All these images are about the relationship between human’s temporary existence within nature. I’ve been looking for signs of human existence that show a temporary nature, emptiness, silence and devoid of human noise. It’s amazing how quiet the world can be when you turn off all the white noise for a while. 

Temporary Residence

Shearing Shed and Load Ramp (2020)

This is an image I took late last year. Its theme is  a common one for me in recent times with this kind of work; traces of human life in silence and emptiness. I visit locations on the Otago Peninsula often and I’m always looking how objects connect with each other and the meaning they infer. Here a shearing shed and loading ramp are covered and surrounded in mist while the damp grass extends off the page. There’s a relationship here between man’s temporary residence against nature. “Shearing Shed and Loading Ramp” (2020)

Harmony In Life

Scott Hall (2021)

This is another scene I found on Otago Peninsula. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I wasn’t out looking for something fascinating or interesting, instead I was viewing through the central idea and theme of traces of human life, silence and emptiness. I wandered around this hall for a while before I finally came across the composition I wanted. Sometimes I find I need to look at objects in multiple ways before seeing the arrangement I want. With this hall, I liked the hints of emptiness and silence that seemed to be present, it has traces of human life but also a tiny sense of drama. It’s very much about that human quality of connectedness and harmony in life. Title: Scott Hall by John Caswell (2021)

A Way Of Life

Peninsula Bus Stop with Dry Grass (2021)

I came across this scene while I was exploring Otago Peninsula. I wasn’t out looking for something fascinating or interesting because the problem with that is so many things appear fascinating that it becomes impossible to capture everything the eye sees. Instead, my curiosity was based around a central idea and theme. Others might call it a vision. What I was looking for was traces of human life, silence and emptiness. Personally I loved the connection between the bus stop sign and the seat, the street sign and the no exit or turning sign. The relationship between these elements and the rest of the scene to me seem to suggest a way of life that is forgotten about in the city. Title: Peninsula Bus Stop with Dry Grass by John Caswell (2021)