Weekly Shot of Art - Dianne Bos

I went to see Dianne Bos's show, "Verre et Mer" at the Kostiuk Gallery (2928 Granville St) last night. I stayed longer than I meant too and I left feeling completely refreshed. Her photography work with pinhole cameras is both deeply nostalgic and light at the same time. It is landscape photography and still life photography but the distinct lack of sharpness and the diffused light of the anti-technical pinhole cameras layers the images with emotion and meaning and memory.

"Verre et Mer", which the gallery site has translated as "Glass + Water" but in reality is French for "Glass and Sea", are photos from Languedoc-Roussillion region of France, close to Spain. Some are Chateaux and other imposing monuments, but the strongest images are her sea-fronts and interior shots. The beach images are anachronistic. The striped umbrellas and beach chairs look out over waters that belie the "2005" date on the detail card. They seem far away in time and space and yet somehow still resonate strongly with the viewer, like a dream or a half-forgotten memory.

Many of the indoor images are taken beside windows, which is a limitation of the camera, but one that suits it perfectly, I think. The mottled light on the floor or through glass is distorted beautifully with the pinhole and what is lost in definition is made up for in emotion. From a description of a past show (whose images are included in this one), is the idea that;

"This work explores light. French light. Day light spilling into rooms. Its slow crawl across tiled floors and textured walls. That hypnosis we all experience when contemplating the suns warmth as it flows across the built surfaces. Whether in a great hall at Versailles or a room in a small medieval house, the days' changing light brings equal riches."

It is easy to remember with Bos' images that the word "photography" comes from light. "Painting" or "writing" with light.

I reviewed a show a few weeks ago, that included toy and experimental, as well as pinhole cameras and although it left me feeling a little scattered, these retro cameras and their images are something that I am vaguely fascinated with. Our society has progressed so quickly that sharp, high-quality lenses are readily available now, even on compact cameras, but we find collectively that we're missing something. We are drawn to the imperfections somehow.

The light-leaks and blur in these photographs (which are very large, by the way, and framed beautifully in dark wood) releases something in the viewer that I can't quite put my finger on. They are qualities rather than faults. I am usually driven to distraction when the horizons in photographs are not level but here they lilt and teeter all over the place and I found it charming when I noticed it at all.

Most of her images (actually, it looks like all of them) are available for viewing on the website, but it really doesn't do them justice. You have to see them large with the sun streaming in the window to get a real feel for how wonderfully sentimental they are. Photos will be up until March 26th. Check the gallery site for hours.

Image 1 is Umbrellas, Collioure, France, 2005.
Image 2 is La Galerie de Léran, Ariège, France (Thru glass), 2005.
Image 3 is Chateau de Gudanes, 2004.