Seasoned

At this season the land offers up the harvest, and after the cutting it often looks flag-like with its stumps and stalks now revealed in ordered rows and burnished colors. All the florid heads of sunflowers, wheat or corn have been carried off and the land waits for the turning under and then rest.

These wide views are deceptively simple and seem not to amount to much, but I like that spaciousness with the panel of the land below and the top of sky, and the narrow, glowing strip in between. As a small print it seems to be just like it looks, distant and familiar, but in a large print the space comes alive as every stalk is clearly rendered, and the march from the frame  edge to the field of color is a visual journey. It’s not for everyone I know, but having made simple images with the view camera I know how the image expands and converts itself into a surprisingly tangible experience.