pictures worth a thousand words

i have to introduce you to the work of australian photographer peter lik. mitchell and i stumbled upon his soho gallery last summer and have since brought people back to be amazed. lik, who is completely self-taught, has been described as "the most important landscape photographer alive," and i'd have to agree.

his mantra is "one shot," and he spends months setting them up sometimes to get it just right, using long exposures and extreme patience. you can see some more of his photos at his website, and i'm telling you, it's worth a few minutes. but seeing his images this way don't do his work justice. what you really ought to do is pay a visit to one of his galleries, because there, you can see the pieces on a huge scale, and in all their glory and they look like nothing you've ever seen. this is because aside from being some of the most perfect and awe-inspiring photography in the world, the pieces are printed on silver halide paper giving them a luminosity and a glow that makes you swear they're lit from behind...but they're not.

the lovely people that work at the gallery are so enthusiastic about his work and so patient - they treat you to a light show that i'd watch every day if i could. slowly, they dim the lights focused on a particular piece and even with no light, elements of the photos glow as if there is a light inside the photo...it's because the halite paper holds on to the light in a way i've never before seen. some of the pieces are even in little side rooms of the gallery where you can go in, close the doors, sit down on a couch and just stare into a sunset as the light dims and changes by the second.

this is something you just have to do. seriously, you MUST visit one of his galleries for the full experience. you can thank me later.

all photos courtesy of peter lik gallery