Intimate Immensity : An exhibition by Tim E White

Intimate Immensity, an exhibition of work by Tim E White
Hastings Arts Forum, St Leonards on Sea
May 31 – June 12 2022

‘Sea is mystery, a vast area of unexplored, uncharted territory where the true nature of our planet is exposed.’

From the minimal sea sky horizons of ‘Precession’ and ‘Nutation’, to the explosive breaking waves of ‘Luna’, the sea has been primary inspiration and subject matter for Tim E Whites fine art photography practice. Tim describes his work as anti-paredolian. Where paredolia is the search for the recognisable in nature, he is drawn to abstraction and minimalism. The viewer is often confronted by an image of profound dimension whilst simultaneously being drawn to the flat surface of the photograph, examining perhaps the act of image making itself and the somewhat paradoxical relationship between real and pictorial space.

‘By its very nature photography involves abstraction, or the reduction of human vision to a two-dimensional representation’.

This flattening of pictorial space, places us in what Gaston Bachelard termed ‘intimate immensity’ where the space of the personal and the universal blend. Tim’s images are prevented from drifting into pure abstraction by the traces of clouds, waves and land that emerge like brush strokes on the picture plane. Perhaps questioning where does the precision of photography end and the creativity of painting begin?

The more recent ‘Saccadic Light’ series explores similar themes but shifts focus slightly to the transition between land and sea and what might be described as a boundary between relatively known and unknown worlds. ‘In Dark Trees’ ventures deeper still into the more intimate space of the forest Throughout, Tim’s images aim to inspire and elevate the perception of the observer, evoking the sensation of being immersed in the landscape with a boundlessness that references the notion of the sublime. This strategy of image making is inspired by a rich inheritance of reductive aesthetics from Friedrich and Turner to Rothko and Ritcher. Indeed Friedrich and Turner conveyed in a vision of sea and sky a ‘pictorial world without matter’ that would set us free from the pull of terrestrial gravity and immerse us in pure colour and light.

Tim prefers to shoot landscape he has a personal connection to or feels particularly inspired by. The UK’s South Coast, in particular East Sussex, has been his main focus returning again and again before finally settling there in 2018. Other significant locations include the Scottish Highlands and Iceland.

There is a book to accompany the exhibition, there will be some copies available at the exhibition, however please contact Tim directly and order or inquire via his website. It is a hardback limited edition book of 50 signed copies, large format, 84 pages on premium lustre paper. It is available for £60.

Website | Photo book to accompany the exhibition | @timewhitephoto