I was profoundly moved recently to read about the carbon ‘imprint’ of a man who had been sitting on the stone steps outside the Sumitomo bank in Hiroshima when the bomb fell at 8.15am on 6th August 1945.
The ‘shadow’ left by his body was visible for many years until time and weather all but erased it. “Receiving the rays directly, the victim must have died on the spot from massive burns. The surface of the surrounding stone steps was turned whitish by the intense heat rays. The place where the person was sitting became dark like a shadow.” Google Cultural Institute
When the new bank was built, the steps were taken to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and an etching of the ‘shadow’ was created in memory of that fateful day when so many lives were ruined or — depending on your point of view — many more were potentially saved.
Whether this happenstance was in my subconscious when I decided to do something with Paul Earle’s photograph of deer in Bushy Park, Hampton (near London), I cannot say. If you like to ‘read’ things into other people’s work, you might say it’s my stand against the destruction of nature and wildlife where the planet will soon be a world of just such shadows.
My tongue is slightly in my cheek because I’m always amused by the things the critics read into the work they’re discussing and the ideas they attribute to the creator. I can just imagine the said artist or writer looking down from above and pooh-poohing the symbolism being expounded. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous — I wasn’t thinking anything of the kind!”
The deer in Earle’s original photograph are already in silhouette but putting the image in Linear Burn mode over the Ancient times 20 texture by 2 Lil’ Owls has increased the effect and given the image a rich, vibrant hue that you could say portends future atomic destruction!
Shadow Deer Flasks by FirstNightDesign
Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America [14 fulfillment centers in 5 countries]
Saatchi Art
Take care and keep laughing!
You demonstrate here that good and beautiful things can come from bad.And that is wonderful.
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I guess I do! Thanks, Kris!
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This is marvellous
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Bless you, Rajiv.
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It’s entrancing–gives one pause. Very good. Lucy
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Thanks so much, Lucy!
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So beautiful calm and peaceful! xxx
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Aw, thanks, BrixHouseWife! I’m so glad to see you here – I thought I’d lost you!
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What a dreamy quality it has. Oh, interpretations, Sarah. They always say more about the interpreter than about the original… Have a fabulous day.
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They do indeed. Thanks, Olga!
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I much prefer this atmospheric creation to ‘The Monarch of the Glen,’
Nice work as always, Sarah. (The hip-flask is a great idea too, very appropriate to the market)
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Ha! Thanks, Pete.
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So beautiful!!!!
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Thank you!
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I like it a lot 🙂
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Much thanks, restlessjo!
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Like catching a glimpse of them in an early morning pre-dawn fog. Ethereal. Really nice one Sarah.
xxx Hugs Galore xxx
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Bless you, David. Huge hugs! xxx
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beautiful Sarah, what sad history!
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Thank you!. Yes, sad but so good that they’ve commemorated the occasion. We must never forget.
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yes so glad they did! We cannot!
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I love the ‘Love Poem,’ and what a connection you have!
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Thank you, Kim. I assume you’re talking about the Betjeman post! Hope you like my Shadow Deer as well!
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Yes, I was. Oooops, going back to the Shadow Deer. How did I miss it?
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I was so taken with this picture, not fully realizing the impact of such. I can’t fully express my emotions this morning upon reading your full post. To think of the bomb going off at this very second, a life lost with a visual captured forever and ever. Amazing work.
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Bless you, Kim. I can’t quite believe what came out of my heart/pen/typing finger. I’ve given myself pause for thought which has been compounded by todays news in Brussels. I’ve had to turn the news off so as not to get too depressed!
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I can’t quite believe another tragedy has happened. And yet, it seems a fact of life that we are forever learning to live with. Something we don’t understand, yet must accept. I won’t listen to, or watch the news either. Too painful.
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