JOEL SIMPSON

joel simpson art photographer
Collection Joel Simpson

BIOGRAPHIE

Originaire du New Jersey, JOEL SIMPSON photographie depuis son adolescence dans les années 1960, avant de devenir pro en 2002. Il est largement autodidacte. Entre-temps, il obtient un doctorat en littérature comparée de Brown, passe 10 ans à enseigner l’anglais, le français et l’italien au niveau universitaire et mène une carrière de 22 ans en piano jazz. Il a également travaillé comme critique de musique et d’art.

Depuis 2002, il a exposé plus de 50 fois aux États-Unis et à l’étranger, dont Paris, Barcelone et Rome. Son travail a été publié aux États-Unis, en Belgique, en France et en Inde, et il a reçu de nombreux prix. En 2019, son livre de paysages principalement en couleur, consacré à la géologie remarquable, Earthforms: Intimate Portraits of Our Planet, a reçu des critiques enthousiastes ainsi que le prix prestigieux Nautilus Gold 2019 pour l’art et la photographie, et il a été nommé 10e meilleur photographe de paysage. (avec 16 autres artistes) de 2019 par One Eyeland, de l’Inde. Son travail est actuellement recueilli par le Williamsburg Art and Historical Center de Brooklyn. Au cours de la dernière année, son travail a été présenté en ligne dans L’Oeil de la photographie, brutjournal.com, Photo Independent (exposition), Shades of Grey, et Inspirational Art, et publié dans The Hand, et Spotlight (Circle Foundation for the Arts.)

Son dernier livre, Playgrounds for the Mind: The Surreal in the Real, combine une fascination pour la géologie et son immersion dans l’art surréaliste. Le présent livre est sa suite, principalement des images de 2022 et 2023, dont un voyage en Islande en mars 2023. 

Simpson vit à Union, New Jersey.

DÉMARCHE ARTISTIQUE

La Géologie et le Surréalisme—Le Surréel dans le réel: Le concret irrationnel dans les roches et la glace

« Il ne faut pas seulement photographier les choses pour ce qu’elles sont, mais aussi pour ce qu’elles sont d’autre part. » — Minor White (1908-1976)

Les formes des roches et de la glace révèlent une beauté intrigante qui, si l’on est attentif, peut atteindre un niveau de prodigalité imaginative comparable à celui de la peinture des 100 dernières années. La plupart de ces formes sont abstraites, et des photographes comme Aaron Siskind, Minor White et Frederick Sommer ont exploré leur potentiel artistique à l’apogée de l’expressionnisme abstrait (fin des années 1940 à 1970, mais se poursuivant jusqu’à aujourd’hui). Les forces qui les ont créées — movement tectonique, stratification, volcanisme et érosion, dans le cas des roches; et congélation, marcottage, fonte et recongélation, dans le cas de la glace — ne sont pas aléatoires, il n’est donc pas surprenant que l’imagination fondée sur l’art contemporain puisse y discerner des compositions significatives.

Mon travail photographique commence là et va plus loin. Un sous-ensemble significatif de ces formes évoque des associations figuratives dans l’esprit du spectateur, un phénomène connu sous le nom de pareidolia, défini comme la perception de contenu figuratif dans des formes naturelles aléatoires, comme l’Homme sur la Lune ou la Grande Face de Pierre. Cette figuration perceptuelle a généralement été minimisée par les artistes, puisque qui peut dire si une personne voit une tête de cheval et une autre une partie mécanique d’auto? Ainsi, la pareidolia, qui a été inventée pour la première fois en tant que psychopathologie en 1866 par le psychiatre allemand Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum, a été considérée comme une simple curiosité populaire, une tradition, et non comme un sujet propre aux beaux-arts.

La pareidolia que je trouve dans les roches et la glace, cependant, s’appuie sur un inventaire beaucoup plus grand de figuration imaginative — humoristique, effrayante, ironique — surtout de l’art surréaliste et visionnaire. Ainsi dans mon travail on peut trouver, par exemple, des créatures mythiques, des ruines antiques, des fossiles bizarres, des masques grimaçants, des corps célestes, des fragments érotiques, des fantasmes architecturaux, des cyborgs grotesques, et des cadres sinistres.

Je voyage dans les déserts, les badlands, les sites volcaniques, les glaciers, les cascades gelées et d’autres sites d’intérêt géologique et glaciaire à la recherche de ces formations.

Salvador Dalí a proclamé qu’il décrivait le « concret irrationnel » dans son travail, et il a donc développé une technique exceptionnellement réaliste. Ce terme caractérise parfaitement une grande partie de ma photographie, et en outre, comme roche et glace, il est littéralement concret. Dalí a également affirmé que les formations rocheuses étaient une influence majeure sur lui, et il en a inclus beaucoup dans ses peintures.

La figuration dans mes compositions de pierre et de glace est souvent ambiguë. Il peut être partiel, suggéré, ou juxtaposé avec des éléments abstraits, difficiles à identifier avec certitude. J’appelle cela la « figuration liminale », et le monde naturel abonde en elle, invitant le vagabond à se sentir immergé dans un cadre vivant, animé par son imagination.

Toutes mes images sont unitaires sans combinaison d’images. Cependant, je les modifie pour que ma vision se démarque, mais je n’oblige aucun spectateur à voir ce que je vois ; j’accueille volontiers d’autres décodages.

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Unreal City (Valley of Capless Hoodoos), Bisti Badlands, New Mexico This collection of hoodoos or cap rocks with many of their caps missing seemed to resemble the site of a disaster, or alternatively the aftermath of an invasion of H. G.Wells' Martians from "War of the Worlds.”
Unreal City (Valley of Capless Hoodoos), Bisti Badlands, New Mexico This collection of hoodoos or cap rocks with many of their caps missing seemed to resemble the site of a disaster, or alternatively the aftermath of an invasion of H. G.Wells' Martians from "War of the Worlds.”
Wetland from 300 Feet, East Hanover, NJ, This wetland in East Hanover, New Jersey, lies near to a highway and to an abandoned airfield, where my drone group met last March. The drone discovered it behind a row of trees, and I was astonished at the stark beauty of the divers plant life from about 300 feet up, before deciduous leaves had grown from the trees. In monochrome it became a study in textures.
Wetland from 300 Feet, East Hanover, NJ, This wetland in East Hanover, New Jersey, lies near to a highway and to an abandoned airfield, where my drone group met last March. The drone discovered it behind a row of trees, and I was astonished at the stark beauty of the divers plant life from about 300 feet up, before deciduous leaves had grown from the trees. In monochrome it became a study in textures.
Approach to the Castle (Talus with Caprocks), Bisti Badlands, New Mexico Bisti Badlands is a large area of amazing natural structures in Northwest New Mexico, also called De-Nah-Zin Wilderness. These formations looked like castles above a steep hill of the foreground talus.
Approach to the Castle (Talus with Caprocks), Bisti Badlands, New Mexico Bisti Badlands is a large area of amazing natural structures in Northwest New Mexico, also called De-Nah-Zin Wilderness. These formations looked like castles above a steep hill of the foreground talus.
Pahoehoe Lava Fingers, Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i Lava as a frozen fluid offers an infinite variety of forms, and the vast lava fields from eruptions both recent and longstanding, present endless hunting grounds for image creation. Here the lava has frozen into both rope-like twists and coils and finger-like larger forms. Of course, it kills all plants with its extreme heat. The spores of ferns, carried by the wind, are the first to recolonize its terrain.
Pahoehoe Lava Fingers, Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i Lava as a frozen fluid offers an infinite variety of forms, and the vast lava fields from eruptions both recent and longstanding, present endless hunting grounds for image creation. Here the lava has frozen into both rope-like twists and coils and finger-like larger forms. Of course, it kills all plants with its extreme heat. The spores of ferns, carried by the wind, are the first to recolonize its terrain.
Consanguinity (Mulit-Textural Lava Formatin), Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i This well-demarcated formation is composed of about a dozen close-fitting parts, each one with a distinct texture or reticulation pattern. It resembled a unified art work, laid out on the ground, not dissimilar from others I’ve seen in galleries made by human artists that juxtapose contrasting artistic elements to create a composite icon of diversity.
Consanguinity (Mulit-Textural Lava Formatin), Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i This well-demarcated formation is composed of about a dozen close-fitting parts, each one with a distinct texture or reticulation pattern. It resembled a unified art work, laid out on the ground, not dissimilar from others I’ve seen in galleries made by human artists that juxtapose contrasting artistic elements to create a composite icon of diversity.
Ouessant E. T. (Rockpile) Ile de Ouessant, France This rock stack, one of many on the Pern Peninsula on the French Ile de Ouessant of the coastal point of Brittany, bore an uncanny resemblance to E. T.
Ouessant E. T. (Rockpile) Ile de Ouessant, France This rock stack, one of many on the Pern Peninsula on the French Ile de Ouessant of the coastal point of Brittany, bore an uncanny resemblance to E. T.
Jester, Goblin Valley State Park, Utah The astonishing 2 square miles of Goblin Valley State Park is filled with upright mudstones. Most of them resemble mushrooms, but among the provocative variations was this especially comic one.
Jester, Goblin Valley State Park, Utah The astonishing 2 square miles of Goblin Valley State Park is filled with upright mudstones. Most of them resemble mushrooms, but among the provocative variations was this especially comic one.
5-Million-Year-Old Kiss, Red Rock Canyon State Park, California California's Red Rock Canyon State Park, not far from Ridgecrest, features monumental sandstone structures whose erosion has left stacked rows of rough oblongs that could be mistaken for figures—like rows of saints on a cathedral. Except that around a corner, in shadow (when I found them) two of them seemed to be kissing. As a rock formation, I assumed they had been in this pose for millions of years.
5-Million-Year-Old Kiss, Red Rock Canyon State Park, California California's Red Rock Canyon State Park, not far from Ridgecrest, features monumental sandstone structures whose erosion has left stacked rows of rough oblongs that could be mistaken for figures—like rows of saints on a cathedral. Except that around a corner, in shadow (when I found them) two of them seemed to be kissing. As a rock formation, I assumed they had been in this pose for millions of years.
Slashed Mask (Layered Sandstone), Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, is one of the most fascinating collections of hikes in the West, excelling in just the kind of small- and medium-scale formations that offer touchstones to the imagination. This configuration, captured in bright sunlight in the "Beehives" formation, stood out as a rough face—a mask—with a dramatic fault line running diagonally through it.
Slashed Mask (Layered Sandstone), Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, is one of the most fascinating collections of hikes in the West, excelling in just the kind of small- and medium-scale formations that offer touchstones to the imagination. This configuration, captured in bright sunlight in the "Beehives" formation, stood out as a rough face—a mask—with a dramatic fault line running diagonally through it.
Obelisk, Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona The sandstone formations of this famous slot canyon are unmatched in the provocative curves and colors. They were shaped over millions of years by the rare flash floods that occur in this desert environment. This photograph was taken with a “fisheye” lens, an 8-mm super-wide angle that gives a circular image.
Obelisk, Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona The sandstone formations of this famous slot canyon are unmatched in the provocative curves and colors. They were shaped over millions of years by the rare flash floods that occur in this desert environment. This photograph was taken with a “fisheye” lens, an 8-mm super-wide angle that gives a circular image.
Tree-Fern Forest Canopy, Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i The hiking paths that link views of craters and lava in this National Park are covered with primeval forests dominated by tree-sized ferns that seem to harken back to the Carboniferous period, about 300 million years ago, before deciduous trees had evolved. A “fisheye” lens photograph.
Tree-Fern Forest Canopy, Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i The hiking paths that link views of craters and lava in this National Park are covered with primeval forests dominated by tree-sized ferns that seem to harken back to the Carboniferous period, about 300 million years ago, before deciduous trees had evolved. A “fisheye” lens photograph.
Blue Basin Panorama, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Sheep Rock Unit The light cyan hue was caused by a rare combination of minerals from a volcano that erupted some 26 million years ago.
Blue Basin Panorama, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Sheep Rock Unit The light cyan hue was caused by a rare combination of minerals from a volcano that erupted some 26 million years ago.
Zion Canyon Overlook with Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah This famous view of the main valley of Zion National Park requires a climb of about 15 minutes to arrive at the vista point.
Zion Canyon Overlook with Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah This famous view of the main valley of Zion National Park requires a climb of about 15 minutes to arrive at the vista point.
White Pocket Drone Panorama, White Pocket, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona This bizarre remote formation, named after its light-colored cross-bedding, is characterized by these notable double hills with capricious orange incursions. This panorama was created from two stills from a drone video, captured on a winter morning.
White Pocket Drone Panorama, White Pocket, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona Cette formation isolée bizarre, nommée d'après son lit croisé de couleur claire, est caractérisée par ces doubles collines notables avec des incursions orange capricieuses. Ce panorama a été créé à partir de deux images d'une vidéo de drone, capturées un matin d'hiver.
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