Aaron Siskind: Visiting Artist

“Basically, a photographer like myself finds things in nature
that he can convert into what he calls a picture.”

“I started working on [stone walls] in 1950. “One day when I was shooting I began to think of something...the way these rocks sheltered other rocks, how they pressed on each other, and I began to feel the pressures... and the relationships. I began to think about a family I was very close to, and the relationship between the parents and the children... Somehow thinking of that helped me resolve a lot of problems with the formation of the rocks. It seems far fetched, and no one would ever think of it, but it was that thinking that enabled me to take these pictures.”

“I was always interested and always found fascinating how a picture could transform the object you’re taking. Without doing anything almost, you can transform not only the object, but also the meaning of the object. That was I think the most important thing to me in picture making.”
“The more of nature you see the less of nature there is. You see, it’s not nature anymore…”
“If you look very intensely, and slowly, things will happen that you’ve never dreamed of before.”
“We went to the Vineyard every year… we were naked all the time.”

* * *

In 1971 Aaron was hired at RISD by then-President Talbot Rantoul. He was delighted to be near the Vineyard—where he had photographed the Tabernacle and Cottage City in the 1930’s and 1950’s.
His stonewall pictures were made up-island, near Clam Cove, on the way to Gay Head. To make those, Aaron used a 5 x 7 camera, placing the tripod very low to get the sky showing white in the spaces between the rocks.
He liked such contrast in his pictures. He “printed with a sledgehammer” to get his images so full of contrast.
Aaron’s projects in photography—his chosen subjects—were like a revelation. Kids jumping off a bridge into the sea become abstractions. His work was groundbreaking.
(This story is from a conversation between photographers Neal Rantoul and Lynn Christoffers, June 1, 2011.)

All images provided through the generosity and courtesy of the Aaron Siskind Foundation.

Above Aaron Siskind quotes are from “Aaron Siskind: Making Pictures,” 1991, a film by Judith Wechsler.
www.judithwechsler.com