Abelardo Morell published by Phaidon, 2006, www.phaidon.com

A flower vase poised on the very corner of a table, water on the floor. A mysterious potential not yet, but already realized, the past and the future contained in the same instant as a charged, motionless present. Where are the flowers? Abelardo Morell's photographs in this book are never less than thoughtful, mindful meditations on childhood, photography, books, or the everyday astonishments seen around the house. The prints themselves show a wonderful depth of tone and sometimes delightful depth of field. It's a pleasure to simply drift through the pages and see things as the artist sees them. The cover shot of this book sums up the key elements of Morell's work, and is a lesson on how to create a thoughtful photograph. The composition draws you in, it's unbalanced  with the main elements just far enough from the "rule of thirds" that you stop and look (the cover shot is a crop of the full image found on page 123). The brilliantly white vase seems to rock forward out of a black shadow, yet sits poised over a pure black table edge, ready to fall into the rest of the image, which shows a wonderful full range of tone. There are no horizontal or vertical lines, all is slightly askew and the entire image gives the impression of arrested motion despite the obvious stability of the situation. One wants to reach out and catch the vase, although the accident has already happened, and despite the second-look reassurance that it is going nowhere.

back

next page