In a world where our need to control and predict outcomes drives our obsessions as much as our fears, David Graham White‘s photography speaks straight to the heart of culture with a haunting beauty that is deeply profound.

In this series, entitled “In The Garden I Felt Safe,” Canadian photographer David Graham White explores the exacting precision of topiaries in the Welsh landscape. Historically viewed as symbols of power, wealth and control, topiaries also allude to a magical, other-worldly fantasy where nature is harnessed with “corsets and stays” and where mazes lead into the depths of our imaginations. The tension between beauty and fear – held together in this horticultural form – is somehow mesmerizing.

Even more mesmerizing is David’s process. The images are photographed as Polaroid negatives and then processed using the light from the flickering images on a television to replace the enlarger. The unpredictability of where the light flares will show up on the TV screen imbues the images with compelling movement and saturation of colour. Ethereal and uncontrolled forms are mysteriously woven into the precisely controlled landscapes of David’s images as the analogue Polaroids are transformed by coming in contact with the post-modern digital era television.

David says, “Television reflects culture from the inside out as it reports on the spectacular world around us. [It] serves as the mouthpiece of material culture generating need for its products to fill as it celebrates the elite and famous. Fear becomes a commodity that is bought and sold on the backs of its viewers. In the end we are left looking for a way through the maze back to a safe place where we can rest.”

Limited edition prints of David’s stunning photographs are available through Art Interiors. As you reflect on his images, his process and the statement David is making with this series, perhaps you will consider what it is that makes you feel safe, what it is that you are trying to predict and control, and what it is that has you in “corsets and stays” right now.

I’ve been thinking about these things a great deal lately, thanks to inspiration like David’s work and this TEDtalk from Brené Brown. I’m coming to believe that it is indeed what makes me vulnerable that also makes me beautiful.

Happy Monday!
xo
s.