Phoenix 22 – 10

Published on March 16, 2010 in Phoenix Series. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Artist Tyson Crosbie presents Phoenix 22 - 10

Approaching half way

We’re all busy. I guess when you’ve spent 10 years looking at things so closely it is difficult to step back for a moment. This annual project is all I can focus on right now, it is all I’ve been thinking about for months and every detail is precisely considered. Friends are often surprised that I also consider the narrative of the works important. How the story unfolds as relationships between elements in the sequence of photographs develop. I’m often asked why I started with 20 images and until now I’ve always just said that 20 images felt right. Then shrugged my shoulders. I can see now that I need 20 images to complete a good story arc. Too few images and the story would become choppy or disconnected, too many (at least this early on) would become rambling or too repetitive. Though I’ve also been accused of that by friends and family.

Evolution

But evolution is slow, and by nature I generally don’t change that much from year to year. The same things interest me and I struggle with similar conflicts. The story presented is on the surface an expression of emotion and a reflection of self. Yet I strive for something more, I hope that I’m able to discover universal truths about humanity and philosophy. Things we all struggle to understand or discover about ourselves and the life we lead. If it doesn’t make sense or feels repetitive I guess all I can really say is: “Yeah. I know. Don’t you feel it too?”

How to participate

Buy a print of this image. Leave a comment on Flickr or Facebook. Follow me on Twitter and share your thoughts about the image below.

Win stuff!

Those that participate the most will win stuff! Up for grabs: a signed copy of Phoenix 22, a Tyson Crosbie Photography Tshirt (morse code), and several signed 5×8 prints.

  • Mare

    My god, Tyson. This is stunning. I've come back to this image half a dozen times, and I still can't stop looking at it. Beautiful.

  • http://tysoncrosbie.com tysoncrosbie

    Yeah, I think this one will be a show stopper when it is on the plexi at 32×48. :)

  • http://www.twitter.com/lizreads Liz

    Just a guest here — happened upon your site. That is absolutely beautiful. I've looked at it more than once, and each time, when I come back to it, I see something different and think it's something else.

    Do you know the nature photographs of Joan Klostermann-Ketels? She's put together a book of photographs of trees, each one showing a human emotion. (Each one is also paired with a quotation.) Totally different from what you have here, but the photos draw you, pull you into nature and spur you to pay attention to the world around us. It brings imagination and a sense of mysticism back to the outdoors.

    Another thing — your remark about telling a story reminds me of going to the new wing of the Art Institute of Chicago back in the fall and seeing a display of photos depicting a specific day from all over the country, I believe it was. And — I don't know if you've seen it or not — but I didn't think it worked at all. Without explanations, I never would have known what the photographer was aiming at. I was hugely disappointed in it.