Standing still

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I’ve always admired statues in the same way I love a great photograph. They are, by virtue of their creation, static and unchanging. They capture a frozen moment. Like a photograph, however, they are capable of an array of different meanings and interpretations.

It is the viewer, as much as it is the artist, who decides what it is they are seeing. A mood, a story or even the light can change how we feel about what we are looking at. I think that’s why I love wedding photography so much. The combination of beautiful photos and the emotions felt by the happy couple when they view the memories of their day, are what make the photos ones they will cherish for ever. I’m not Rodin, but like him I get great pleasure from the feelings my work evokes.

103 thoughts on “Standing still”

  6. Your photos here have really made me appreciate statues a whole lot more. I have always liked them, but in the same note, I was also kind of afraid of them. They are so regal, almost alien, yet, so completely human.

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  14. Sculptures of Figures do capture a frozen instance as photography can, yet in multiple dimensions leaving everything to the viewer. Where as in photos the observer is mystified by what is outside the borders of the photo or who is taking the image and under what context.

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  20. Your post reminds me of the story of Pygmalion in book 10 of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Pygmalion is a sculptor who chose to remain celibate after witnessing the shocking actions of some promiscuous women. But he falls in love with a statue he sculpts (she looks so real and as though she wants to come to life). He prays to Venus and Venus grants life to his statue.

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  24. Great sculptures! Question for you since I happened to read an article on this in LA times just today, what are your thoughts of creating reproductions and putting those in museums if the orig is destroyed somehow?

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    • I think as long as there’s no secret about it being a reproduction then that’s fine. Although there’s something special about a one of a kind, it’s a shame if it can’t be shared once it’s destroyed.

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  34. Finally, someone who likes to photograph statues and sculptures as much as I do. Not a wedding photographer, but I sure have spent a considerable amount of time cemetery hopping, looking for unique monuments and statues. Really enjoyed your images! Thank you for sharing your talent and skill.

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  38. “They are, by virtue of their creation, static and unchanging” – Very well said. The frozen moment is the beauty of any photographs and statues.

    Nice post with great photographs!!

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  47. Another beautiful statue is ‘Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss’ by Antonino Canova, it is in the Louvre. I could hardly drag myself away from it. Also ‘David’ by Michael Angelo is breathtaking when you see it up close. Describing their impact is impossible, it requires a poet. Thank you for these beautiful shots.

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  51. Thank you very much for the beautiful images. One of the practices of meditation is Standing Meditation. It’s not at all like a statue, of course, because there’s still all the movement of breathing and balancing. Still, I find it connects me with the same experience of beauty and joy you describe with your photography. And as a photographer, you probably do a lot of still standing yourself! That quiet moment, breathing, observing… and then for you, click, the moment is registered. For me too. Lovely.

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  52. Multiple captures from different angles… of one piece of work! I’ve never looked at statues like that before – I didn’t even realize the photos weren’t each of different pieces of work at first. Each capture tells a wholly different story! Thank you for the insight and your innovative contribution to the world of photography.

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  55. They are beautiful! Who made the statue of the woman with the dog? It resembles a statue I’ve seen once in one of the cities here. I especially like the first pictures. Such great subject of photography!

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  56. I started collecting nude Flower Frogs many years ago. I have always feel the female nude was one of the most beautiful objects on the earth. In fact, my wife became a lover as well of collecting nudes in this vein. The photos of the nude statues, of course are my favorite and are beautifully done in the capture of their inner souls.

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  57. These are beautiful photographs. As you said that statues are static and unchanging, your photographs brings another level to it. You capture it in a way eyes might not perceive it. You allow the viewer to see this work of art literally through a new lens.

    Beautiful work.

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  74. Lovely – I went to the Louvre recently and was amazed at the variety of scuplted form. I particualrly like the pigeons, but also the last one where the figures are facing the wall. Where is it? It looks like it might be a war memorial.

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  84. Beautiful pictures, statues can be such striking representations of the human form that photographers dont always capture them faithfully. I loved how you gave them a little bit of their own humanity. More please!!

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  94. Just for saying “I’ve always admired statues in the same way I love a great photograph. They are, by virtue of their creation, static and unchanging. They capture a frozen moment.”

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