Shadows.Abstract shapes. Spatial Relationships. These concepts, portrayed in intimatephotographs, describe the work of John Heymann exhibited at the CharlesAllisMuseumwith “At a Moment’s Notice: The Photographs of John Heymann” through Sept. 21.
Heymann, aphotojournalist featured in The New YorkTimes and TheBoston Globe, displays approximately 45prints in black and white or color that use the construct of light playingagainst the manmade or natural world. In his prints these shadows suggestabstract sculptures or mysterious relationships between objects and physicalspace, which define Heymann’s compositions. The repetition of shadows seenthrough various types of light and the intricate patterns they form create analternate reality in his pictures, asking the viewer to look deeper to findhidden meanings.
A trio ofprints expresses these themes with exceptional skill. Heymann’s Corridor, RedRockPark, Sedona (2007) captures spider-likeshadows in a corridor of rock canyon creeping down the steps to an unknownspace. In his Shadow on Sidewalk, Porter Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts(2007) a cloaked figure wearing a fedora, completely in silhouette, walksbetween a labyrinth of ebony shadows as if stepping into contemporary filmnoir.And last, Bus Stop, Edinburgh, Scotland(2007) depicts the dark soles of bystanders’ shoes underneath the seat at acity bus stop, waiting for the light to carry them off to their destination.
Heymann’sphotographs from Antelope Canyon, Ariz. in the 1990s also seducethe viewer into close-up visions of this canyon’s cracks and crevices, as ifriding these waves of rock strata. But the exhibition would have been morestriking after further editing, focusing on work completed after 2000 whereHeymann perhaps finds the greatest balance between photojournalism and fineart. During this period he appears to uncover the most innovative andintriguing abstract pictures that suggest there are still captivating mysteriesto discover when one searches for them. Here his unique relationships betweenlight and shadow imprinted on paper, (whether caught in urban life, interiorspaces, or the less inhabited natural environment), shroud the viewer in thepeculiar silence of modern life.
