Frigg Live and Action!: Darling Muse Art Gallery (January 2006)

Stills & Studies
Handcolored Photographs by Eric Peris & Alex Moh

This is the second time, for Eric Peris and Alex Moh to have a joint exhibition of their works; their first joined exhibition entitled Traces of Time was in 2002.
In this exhibition Eric and Alex will show case hand colored black & white prints on the subject of stills and studies.

The technique of hand colored black and white prints dated back to the 19th century was originated due to the desire to soften the realities and the harshness of the daguerreotype.
The art of handcoloring encompasses vision, meditation, creativity and technique. In the present time, contemporary handcoloring has been recognize as a distinct form, separate from historical handcoloring and as a creative new force in photography.

The subject of stills and studies were popular amongst photographers to philosophise that the use of commonplace ordinary objects serve to awaken the viewer to the extraordinary existing within everyday life. By harnessing light, tonal gradients and attention to detail, recreating reality in an artistic fashion, playing with perspective perceptions and wielding the camera lens as a communicative tool, objects are imbued with emotive qualities.

As a matter of perceptions, we are led to focus on a particular object in a certain way, through the supposedly mechanical eye of the lens. Thus, the four sides of a photograph present a framed world that is defined and determined by the photographer; attention is directed, actions are observed and subjects are surveyed within a suggestive containment. This is particularly pertinent to still-life photography, whereby an ordinary object that may not usually attract more than a passing glance is suddenly drawn into focus, becoming symbolic or alluding to society’s preconceptions and values.

Alex’s choice on the subject of stills and studies images are based on the attraction that they allows him the control over all the elements involved from selection of objects to choice of view to lighting.

He finds stills particularly fascinating for study and photographing. Its structure is characterized by symmetry, rhythm and lines which are never rod straight and the relationship to the surroundings it is found in, often offers it as interesting subjects.

Most of the images are shot outdoor usually unnoticed stills and studies with the potential for a viewer’s eagerness to interpret.
The challenge for him is to compose what he saw, find a relationship among the found elements and make the images ‘speak’ of its quiet beauty.

Eric Peris’s concept of Stills and Studies in this series concentrated on studies made of abandoned objects, plant life and also the interaction of light and shadow on plants. Based on the concept of Japanese woodblock printing in terms of colour. It moves away from the earlier series of: Ukiyo-e – Images of the Floating World.

The colours though pastel in nature but have enhanced it to be more vibrant.