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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2004)
BY SYLVIE PEDERSON In most of the urban landscapes, strong horizontal lines bisect the entire image, keep- ing one’s gaze poised over the surface where often the reflection of trees shimmers in rain- water pooled over the ice on the ground. Exceptions are Canal, Kronstadt, where the focus point is off-center. Converging diago- nals and the Kazan Church colonnade, where the eye is drawn in by diagonals and curves, convey a dynamic sense of direction and depth. Another recurrent compositional device is the use of doors, arches and gateways to frame his subjects, often further entrances them- selves. Even then, despite the parallax effect and diminishing sizes, the perception of depth is flattened because background and fore- ground are both sharply in focus. This com- pression of depth works best when the subject- matter is abstract: the kaleidoscopic effect of the Trinity Cathedral dome in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery complex, the minimalist abstraction of ship parts at Kronstadt, the intri- cate motif of a carved door. Tepfer beautifully captures the cool diffuse Baltic light, often warmed by the ochres and golds of the architecture. Between May 1995 and September 2002, Tepfer made six trips to the Russian city, returning at different times of year to get different qualities of light: “I strate- gize where to be for a certain time and timing is everything.” All pictures were shot on Ektachrome 100 ASA film and without flash, requiring long exposures. Taken with a Hasselblad medium- format camera and printed on Ilfochrome archival paper, the photographs are crisp and Window, Birch Tree, Gravestone, photograph by Gary Tepfer. White Lotus Gallery, 2004. sharp. The colors, richly saturated and exquis- itely nuanced, are a visual delight in them- selves. Tepfer is among the few color photogra- phers who do their own darkroom work. This allows him to control the photographic process in all its stages. The project was first conceived as a book on a part (a section of façade, a dome) or a to be titled A Foreigner’s View of St. motif (a door, a vase, a statue), bringing de- Petersburg. Unfortunately, the Russian state tailed texture, form and color to the fore. publisher went out of business. The initial im- The vast majority of the pictures share a petus for the project, however, still informs the similar compositional structure: a frontal view with a centered object of focus. The square exhibit. format reinforces the biaxial symmetry Gven the documentary of the image. This static symmetry nature of the photographs “ST. PETERSBURG — imparts a sense of formality and and the largely unfamil- THE ESSENCE: monumentality even to the small iar terrain, the exhibit COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS detail. The intimacy in the detail would have benefited BY GARY TEPFER” is balanced by a decorum of the greatly from accompa- r e m a in s a t subject-matter. The point of view nying descriptive text. W h it e L ot u s G al l er y is detached, and the absence of Meanwhile, the u nt i l Oc t . 3 0. people contributes a lonely mood. white overmat surround- The straight-on frontal view often ing the photographs creates results in a flattened perspective. In the feel of margins on a book Window, Birch Tree, Gravestone, one of the page. few images in which the focus is not centrally This is documentary photography at its placed, depth was deliberately collapsed with best, and we may hope Tepfer finds a publisher the use of a telephoto lens, creating a flat able to reproduce these images with their orig- painterly composition. ew inal clarity and vividness of color. Photography of Gary Tepfer Sees the soul of the city. S t. Petersburg: The Essence,” now showing at the White Lotus Gallery, is Gary Tepfer’s first exhi- bition of urban photography. It focuses on buildings, landscapes and interiors. As much as his previous images from the American West and North Asia, these works showcase Tepfer’s technical excellence. Conceived by Peter the Great as a window into Europe and meant to reflect the tsars’ au- thority and might, St. Petersburg was built over the marshland of the Neva Delta between 1703 and 1917 by some of the most outstand- ing architects from Switzerland, Italy, France, Britain, Germany and Russia. It displays some of the finest 18th and 19th century European architecture: Baroque, neo-Classical, French Empire, Art Nouveau … palaces, cathedrals, churches, bridges, triumphal arches, ceremo- nial columns. Tepfer’s exhibit title reflects the widely shared view that the “essence” of St. “ Petersburg is its architecture. You will find no trace of Leningrad among Tepfer’s images, only pre-1917 St. Petersburg. This show is strictly about the city of stone and brick and plaster painted in soft watercolor tones, not merely an homage to glorious architecture but also an acknowledgement of how the pre-rev- olutionary city has weathered. In Tepfer’s images, age has softened it’s former splendor into a kinder gentility. Time has muted the arrogance of the city’s gilded youth. Eroding stone, crumbling plaster, faded and peeling paint provide gentle, painterly texture. Conversely, time has enriched the austere. The concrete wall of a bunker on the fortress island of Kronstadt becomes a natural abstract fresco painted with lime, rust and lichen. Tepfer seldom provides a view of a build- ing in its entirety — Chesma Church, showing one of the few neo-Gothic buildings in the city, is a notable exception. Instead he focuses 1ST ANNUAL WAX FOR THE CURE Come in for a wax & help in the fight against Breast Cancer Friday, Oct. 22 • 9:30am-5:30pm All proceeds from waxing go to the Oregon & SW Washington affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Call 344-7789 NEW STOCK ARRIVING Services by students are discounted! RUBY CHASM NW Aesthetics • 2371 Oakmont Way • www.estheticnw.com 152 W. 5TH • M-SA 10-6 SU 12-5 • 344-4074 OCTOBER 21, 2004 57
