JOEL SIMPSON

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BIOGRAPHY

New Jersey native JOEL SIMPSON has been photographing since he was a teenager in the 1960s, turning pro in 2002. He is largely self-taught. In between, he received a PhD in comparative literature from Brown, spent 10 years teaching college  English, French, and Italian and had a 22-year career in jazz piano. He has also worked as a music and art critic.

Since  2002 he has had over 50 shows and publications of his art in the US and abroad, including Paris, Barcelona, and Rome. His work has been published in the US, Belgium, France and India, and he has received numerous awards. His 2019 mostly color landscape book focusing on remarkable geology, Earthforms: Intimate Portraits of Our Planet, received enthusiastic reviews plus the prestigious 2019 Nautilus Gold Award for Art and Photography, and he was named 10th Best Landscape Photographer (along with 16 other artists) of 2019 by One Eyeland, of India. His work is currently collected by the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center of Brooklyn. In the past year his work has been featured on-line in The Eye of Photography, brutjournal.com, Photo Independent (exhibition), Shades of Grey, and Inspirational Art, and published in The Hand, and Spotlight (Circle Foundation for the Arts.)

His last self-published book, Playgrounds for the Mind: The Surreal in the Real, combines a lifelong fascination with geology and his immersion in Surrealist art. The present book is its sequel, mostly featuring images from 2022 and 2023, including a trip to Iceland in March, 2023. 

Simpson lives in Union, New Jersey.

ARTISTIC METHOD

Geology and Surrealism—The Surreal in the Real: The Concrete Irrational in Rocks and Ice

“One should not only photograph things for what they are, but for what else they are.” —Minor White (1908–1976)

Forms in rocks and ice reveal intriguing beauty, which, if one is attentive, can reach a level of an imaginative prodigality comparable to that of painting of the past 100 years. Most of those forms are abstract, and photographers such as Aaron Siskind, Minor White, and Frederick Sommer, explored their artistic potential during the heyday of Abstract Expressionism (late 1940s to 1970, but continuing to the present). The forces that created them—tectonic movement, stratification, volcanism, and erosion, in the case of rocks; and freezing, layering, melting, and refreezing, in the case of ice—are not random, so it is not surprising that imaginations grounded in contemporary art can discern meaningful compositions in them.

My photographic work starts there and goes farther. A significant subset of these forms evokes figurative associations in viewers’ mind, a phenomenon known as pareidolia, defined as the perception of figurative content in random natural forms, such as the Man in the Moon or the Great Stone Face. This perceptual figuration has generally been downplayed by artists, since who is to say if one person sees a horse head and another an auto part? So pareidolia—first coined as a psychopathology in 1866 by German psychiatrist Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum—has been regarded as a mere popular curiosity, a folkway, and not the proper subject of fine art.

The pareidolia that I find in rocks and ice, however, draws on a much greater inventory of imaginative figuration—humorous, frightening, ironic—especially from surrealist and visionary art. So in my work one can find, for example, mythical creatures, ancient ruins, bizarre fossils, grimacing masques, heavenly bodies, erotic fragments, architectural fantasies, grotesque cyborgs, and ominous settings.

I travel to deserts, badlands, volcanic sites, glaciers, frozen waterfalls and other sites of geologic and glacial interest throughout the world in search of these formations.

Salvador Dalí proclaimed that he depicted the “concrete irrational” in his work, so he developed an exceptionally realistic technique. This term perfectly characterizes much of my photography, and furthermore, as rock and ice, it is LITERALLY concrete. He also claimed that rock formations were a major influence on him, and he included many in his paintings.

The figuration in my rock and ice compositions is often ambiguous. It may be partial, suggested, or juxtaposed with abstract elements, difficult to identify with certainty. I call this “liminal figuration,” and the natural world abounds in it, inviting the wanderer to feel immersed in a living setting, animated by one’s fantasy.

All of my images are unitary with no image-combining. I do, however, edit them to make my vision stand out, but, I don’t require any viewer to see what I see; I welcome other decodings.

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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 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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