ALEX PROYAS
MEDIA RELEASE
Fear Not Death's Shadow
May 17 - June 16 2007
Alex Proyas, renowned director of movies such as THE CROW, DARK CITY and I, ROBOT embarks on a new creative journey with his series of photographs inspired by the narrative traditions of film noir. He views these works as an extension of his films, often dealing in the similar themes he has so successfully explored in his movies. The work touches upon ideas regarding identity, mortality, and the nature of perception. Each cycle of images revolves around protagonists involved in a surreal narrative. Each story is self contained but feeds into a larger and more complex mystery, or a "mythology" as Proyas calls it, and can be viewed as documenting in still form some as yet unmade movie.
Proyas describes the process of taking photographs as very much like his film experiences with the one marked difference being instead of saying "action" to commence the actors playing out the scene before his camera he will simply say "hold it" or "stop" to freeze the moment. By allowing the actors freedom to "play out" a scene, rather than merely "posing" for a photograph, Proyas hopes to imbue the captured moments with a greater sense of reality.
"Without the pressures of large scale film-making," says Proyas, " there is a purity and directness to the images I am able to capture in the photographic medium. I work with a very small crew, always at night, often in available light. There is a meditative quality to shooting late at night in these lonely locations, which lends the photos a strange kind of peace. Each story begins as a kind of mini film script. I work out who the characters are and then give them a sequence of events to react to, much like I would in a movie. Though there is obviously a greater sense of improvisation and spontaneity when I am making the images - a more direct connection between my imagination and the finished picture. The stories often take on a dream-like flow of logic, but each image does fit into a narrative and I think that's why there's a lot going on in them. Like a movie, you can feel the back-story outside of each frame, giving the on-screen drama greater depth." What exactly is going on in each image-story is something Proyas is reluctant to divulge to the viewer. He feels the story created in the viewers imagination is as valid as any he might fabricate. "Like a good song or a good dream, I want this work to be open to individual interpretation, and through this to hopefully resonate in some deep, dark way with the viewer".
Each image is credited with the French term Giclee` which is used to describe high quality digital prints that are created for fine art only. The ink is sprayed onto the paper using pure pigments that are fade resistant. The paper is 100% cotton making it archival.
MEDIA RELEASE
Fear Not Death's Shadow
May 17 - June 16 2007
Alex Proyas, renowned director of movies such as THE CROW, DARK CITY and I, ROBOT embarks on a new creative journey with his series of photographs inspired by the narrative traditions of film noir. He views these works as an extension of his films, often dealing in the similar themes he has so successfully explored in his movies. The work touches upon ideas regarding identity, mortality, and the nature of perception. Each cycle of images revolves around protagonists involved in a surreal narrative. Each story is self contained but feeds into a larger and more complex mystery, or a "mythology" as Proyas calls it, and can be viewed as documenting in still form some as yet unmade movie.
Proyas describes the process of taking photographs as very much like his film experiences with the one marked difference being instead of saying "action" to commence the actors playing out the scene before his camera he will simply say "hold it" or "stop" to freeze the moment. By allowing the actors freedom to "play out" a scene, rather than merely "posing" for a photograph, Proyas hopes to imbue the captured moments with a greater sense of reality.
"Without the pressures of large scale film-making," says Proyas, " there is a purity and directness to the images I am able to capture in the photographic medium. I work with a very small crew, always at night, often in available light. There is a meditative quality to shooting late at night in these lonely locations, which lends the photos a strange kind of peace. Each story begins as a kind of mini film script. I work out who the characters are and then give them a sequence of events to react to, much like I would in a movie. Though there is obviously a greater sense of improvisation and spontaneity when I am making the images - a more direct connection between my imagination and the finished picture. The stories often take on a dream-like flow of logic, but each image does fit into a narrative and I think that's why there's a lot going on in them. Like a movie, you can feel the back-story outside of each frame, giving the on-screen drama greater depth." What exactly is going on in each image-story is something Proyas is reluctant to divulge to the viewer. He feels the story created in the viewers imagination is as valid as any he might fabricate. "Like a good song or a good dream, I want this work to be open to individual interpretation, and through this to hopefully resonate in some deep, dark way with the viewer".
Each image is credited with the French term Giclee` which is used to describe high quality digital prints that are created for fine art only. The ink is sprayed onto the paper using pure pigments that are fade resistant. The paper is 100% cotton making it archival.
