From a portfolio titled Under Wraps: Buildings in Transition by Loren Nelson
Available in LensWork Extended #73
© 2007 Loren Nelson. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the photographer
Without question, one of the greatest virtues of photography is that one can point a camera at anything. There are subjects that recur with frequency on the walls of fine art photography galleries, but the world is so much more interesting than that. Take wrapped buildings, for example, as Loren Nelson did. What an unlikely subject for a photography project, but that's precisely what Nelson chose. How is this any less a fascinating subject for photography than, say, a pepper or rock?
And here is where the real magic of photography lies. After seeing his portfolio, I started noticing wrapped building everywhere. They are ubiquitous, but I had ignored them. Not long after we published his portfolio, I found myself driving past them wanting to pull out my camera. What greater gift can a photographer provide to all of us other than new eyes with which to see the world afresh! From time to time we all get bored or run down by the routine of existence. Make art! Look at the world. Look — really look — at anything and you cannot help but find something curious and engaging.
We are often surprised by this kind of portfolio when doing our submissions reviews. "Wrapped buildings." Huh? Then we look at the work and slap our foreheads. Of course! Obvious! How could we have missed it? The magic of photography.
Loren Nelson is featured in this LensWork Alumni Spotlight.
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