Noir and Blanc
And colouring in the USA
Hello,
I am still travelling in the UK, but have since moved from my parents house in the Midlands to London where I am spending this week.
On Monday, I went to see ‘Now You See Us’ at Tate Britain. A gorgeous exhibition exploring female artists from the Tudor period to WW1. If you are visiting London between now and when the exhibit finishes in the middle of October, I highly recommend it.
And speaking of exhibitions, a couple of months ago I was fortunate to see a photography exhibit in Hong Kong. And I decided to write a little about it here.
Take care,
Sarah
Back in June my husband suggested that we both take an artist’s day. He didn’t call it that, as he is not familiar with Julia Cameron’s work, but there was an exhibition at the M+ (a new-ish modern art space in Hong Kong) and we decided to check it out.
The exhibition was titled: Noir & Blanc—A Story of Photography, and it featured a range of international work dating from 1915 to 2019.
Although I love the use of colour in photography, images in black and white, apologies, noir and blanc, can be striking for their apparent simplicity. I am no professional photographer/artist, but even I know that this is misleading! Anyway, I wanted to share some of the work with you that I was drawn to on that visit.
There is a little distortion and glare in my photos from the lights in the gallery.
Two Women (Gloucester Road): 1961 by Yau Leung
This image fronted the advertisement for the exhibition. The covered walk-ways, the women’s style and contrast in their dresses, the group of men up ahead straight through the centre, the women’s hair!
Just beautiful.
Lone Peak Pine, Sierra Nevada, California: Ansel Adams (ca. 1960, printed 1972)
Adams was renowned for his landscapes, and so I was excited to see this image, and there was a second taken at the Alabama Hills (which is located in California).
New York, New York, 1979 (printed 2017): Tseng Kwong Chi
What an image.
This is a self-portrait of Tseng Kwong Chi who often included himself in his work. I am blown away by the composition here, and the complexity of this image (note that he is wearing a ‘Mao’ suit). A picture really is worth a thousand words.
Approaching Shadow: Fan Ho (1954)
Saving my favourite for last, this is an image taken by Fan Ho of his cousin. Apparently, he added the diagonal shadow in the darkroom, but strangely, I wouldn’t have assumed this. There is something both natural and unnatural about the positioning.
Fan Ho was born in Shanghai but he was renowned for capturing stunning images like this. He emigrated to Hong Kong in 1949 and I get the sense that the city was like his muse (it is to me, too). I don’t own many photography books, but my husband did buy me one a few years ago for my birthday containing a selection of Fan Ho’s work.
And an art project of my own!
Before we left the M+, I wanted to take a look around the gift shop and scout out possible Christmas gifts (yes, I know it was only June - I am one of those people). Instead, I bought myself a giant map to colour in! Disappointingly, there was no colouring map for Hong Kong, but I did have the choice of Paris or the WHOLE of the USA. As you can see, I went with the latter, and it’s 100cm by 70cm, so it might take me a while!
Coming up…
25th September: A garden-related post thanks to my parents wonderful flower beds!
Finally, if you like what you see at the The Best of Intentions, it helps tremendously when you give the heart a squeeze, share the piece with one of your mates, or leave a comment (I read and reply to all - a great joy!). Thank you 😉
Love these photos. Especially the ones by Fan Ho and Tseng Kwong Chi. Really striking. ✨🤍✨🖤✨
These images. Wow! How interesting is it that while you noted the contrast between the women's dresses, my eyes went immediately to the similarity in cut and style. Makes me think of that idea of art only being half finished when we share it; the rest is finished by the viewer/listener/reader, etc. So glad you're enjoying your time in the UK.
And that map! Funny, because I was thinking to myself recently that my son loves those intricate coloring books and maybe I would too. Perhaps I need a giant map instead!