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The surface of reality
Far from glamour and the decisive moment. Far, even, from the ethic and aesthetics of the non-place, in Rick Shepherd’s photos, the periphery becomes the centre of attention. In A Liminal Vernacular, the human element is conspicuous by its absence, but the objects used by people, felt the warmth of their touch, survive.
Above all, there remain surfaces. There they are: rough, dry, wet, rusty… Cloud-laden skies contrast with the industrial colours of car bodywork or are reflected in glass stained with the salty residue of the Atlantic.
In this book, we feel the wind, and through it, the sound of the artist’s steps as he approaches a solitary chair, or a mailbox hemmed in by weeds. The visual result of this approach ranges from a composition focussing on a detail, to just the the opposite, a complete landscape where time has stopped.
Rick’s work, when he wields his camera, is infinite, as if trying to fit all the light of twilight into an empty fish tank. It is in the impossibility of the task where the true beauty of his images resides. He conjures the unfathomable in fifty photos, rectangles of paper, ink, and pure life.
Rafa Badia