Jake Morrison's "Breathing Light"

Exhibition view, Jake Morrison at Pressed Cafe, Ottawa

 "Photography is always, of course, about light – the texture of light, the shape of light, the subtleties of light. But there have been times, very occasional times, when it seems like I am immersed in light, surrounded by light, breathing light. There is a feeling of the spiritual. As a photographer I try to capture the moment but, in those times, it can be very difficult to break away from the experience to focus on recording it.” , so Ottawa photographer Jake Morrison.

Jake Morrison, from the series "Tilt"

 
His impressive photographs from the series "Breathing Light" are now on view at Pressed Cafe, 750 Gladstone, Ottawa. The show runs till end of January 2013. Also hanging are works from "Tilt", a series that focus on still lifes in the manner of David Hockney's photographic collages.

Like Morrison says, he experienced “Breathing Light” for the first time on a hillside in The Yukon in August, 2010. It evoked "the sacred" in him. "My relationship with nature is one of appreciation of the mystery and beauty without much interest in the categorization and science that we humans have created around it. I try to present my experiences in nature through my photography. I very much appreciate the immersive nature of the digitally‐stitched panorama and I use it often to help draw the viewer into the scene." — Jake Morrison (from: http://www.oldottawasouth.ca/index.php/oos-news/1976-new-jake-morrison-photography-show)

Jake Morrison: "Two Photographers", from the series "Breathing Light" (2010), courtesy of Jake Morrison

 
One photo in particular caught my attention: "Two Photographers". Here, Morrison's shadow falls into the picture. He therefore captures a place insight the pictorial space and produces an ”auctorial insertion” (after Philippe Dubois: The Photographic Act). The photographer shows himself here as the author and is visible in the image. In particular noteworthy is the fact, that the implicit demonstration of the production of the artwork itself destructs the illusion of the pictorial reality. Therefore the semiotic category of the index – that is related to the object by causality – apply to this photo as special kind of self-portrait.



Facts: 
Jake Morrison: “Breathing Light” and “Tilt”
Pressed Cafe, 750 Gladstone, Ottawa
http://www.pressed-ottawa.com/ 
Artist's homepage: www.withflare.org 
Jake has set up a gallery of show images at:
http://www.morrisonkeeler.org/bigflannel/BreathingLight.html