JOEL SIMPSON

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BIOGRAPHIE

En 2002, après des carrières dans l'enseignement universitaire et le piano jazz, JOEL SIMPSON, originaire du New Jersey, se consacre à son grand amour depuis l'âge de 13 ans : la photographie. Il a exploré un certain nombre de genres photographiques, mais s'est finalement retrouvé ramené à sa passion d'enfance, le rock. Après s'être plongé dans l'art du XXe siècle, il en est venu à explorer les figurations et les symboles naturels dans les formations rocheuses, la glace et les sujets botaniques qui suscitent des associations explicites et inconscientes chez le spectateur.


Le travail de Simpson a été exposé à Paris (Musée de l'érotisme), Tours, Rome, Barcelone, ainsi que dans de nombreuses galeries et foires d'art américaines. Ses images ont été publiées dans Silvershotz (Australie), View Magazine (Bruxelles), Camera Arts (Boulder, CO) et Focus Exposures (en ligne). Il a fait le tour du monde en 2014 et continue de beaucoup voyager, principalement à la recherche de formations minérales provocantes.


Le travail de Simpson a été exposé à Paris (Musée de l'érotisme), Tours, Rome, Barcelone, ainsi que dans de nombreuses galeries et foires d'art américaines. Ses images ont été publiées dans Silvershotz (Australie), View Magazine (Bruxelles), Camera Arts (Boulder, CO) et Focus Exposures (en ligne). Il a fait le tour du monde en 2014 et continue de beaucoup voyager, principalement à la recherche de formations minérales provocantes. En 2007, Simpson a été le commissaire d'une exposition de photographie réunissant 125 artistes au Williamsburg Art and Historical (WAH) Center de Brooklyn, intitulée Sun Pictures to Mega-Pixels, axée sur la photographie non argentique. Le WAH Center continue d'exposer et de collectionner ses œuvres. Il continue à enseigner la photographie, plus récemment sur Zoom. Il a notamment reçu dix prix Black and White Spider (2012-2020, Royaume-Uni) et a été désigné comme l'un des "meilleurs photographes de paysages de 2019", puis de nouveau en 2021, par One Eyeland (Inde). Son livre de 2019, Earthforms : Intimate Portraits of Our Planet, a fait la couverture du Natural History Magazine (juin, 2019) et a remporté le Nautilus Gold Award 2019 pour l'art et la photographie. Un livre plus court (50 p.) de photographie géologique est sorti en 2021, Playgrounds for the Mind : The Art of Geological Photography. Bien que son travail actuel soit généralement classé dans la catégorie de la photographie de "paysage", M. Simpson estime qu'il va plus loin que le paysage conventionnel, se concentrant davantage sur le pouvoir des formes naturelles à remuer l'esprit, plutôt que de transmettre un sentiment de lieu - et même d'échelle.

DÉMARCHE ARTISTIQUE

Je recherche des zones particulièrement riches en formes, dont beaucoup se trouvent dans les déserts des États de l'Ouest des États-Unis, ainsi que dans le monde entier. Je crois que ma sensibilité aux formations provocantes et riches en métaphores a grandement bénéficié de mes recherches dans les livres et de ma longue expérience de l'art dans les musées, les galeries et les foires d'art.

Before starting out, I carefully make spread-sheet itineraries to make maximum use of my time, In such environments (at any time of day), I follow my intuition to capture as many images as possible. Once at home at my computer, I sort through these, looking for the most provocative ones, then work on the chosen ones to bring out the forms that are most interesting or salient, generally rendering them in black and white. Often I’ll find an image some time later whose power I didn’t notice at first. In this way my collections of favorites grows.

Je travaille également avec un objectif fisheye (format circulaire) de 8 mm sur mon Canon 6D Mark II et crée des panoramas d'éléments verticaux, assemblés par la suite à l'aide d'un programme d'assemblage de photos. Mon drone est un autre outil de capture important. Les compositions aériennes à 100 mètres de hauteur peuvent être tout aussi intéressantes que les gros plans à deux mètres.

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 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.
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