Photo: © Michael Levin
Michael Levin composes photographic scenes that have a minimalist appearance yet are subtly imbued with an expressive quality. He delicately aligns sparse color and tones with his special exposure times, along with creative additions to master the final artistic result. Canadian photographer Levin travels throughout the world full time reenacting beautiful global scenes. His new series: New Color Work is now showing at the Photographers Gallery in Los Angeles which is known for their acclaimed classic and contemporary artists.
In several of Michael Levin’s photographs he has incorporated fabulous expression with light color and an unobtrusive use of black to white scales. Levin explains how he transposes a scene technically and artistically to create his artistic renditions. One example is in the photograph: Twilight
© Michael Levin
Michael Levin says, “I’ve always been attracted to minimalism in design, photography and in particular painting. When creating these photographs I always think about stripping away the colors the camera captures and infusing them with a more muted color palette. There’s also the added mystery in these photographs because they are all long exposures, which softens the clouds and a smooth sea. In Twilight we’re looking at the seaweed farms in southern Japan. I ventured out into the sea with my camera and tripod to realize this composition. I was interested in the graphic quality and symmetry of the bamboo sticks and nets. By employing a long exposure technique it softens the water so that you do not see the textures and your eye is drawn to the graphic nature of the image.”
In his black and white pictures, the contrast is uniquely textural while the lighter tones present a sense of atmosphere. Levin’s images resonate cold and warm sensations the viewer can feel resulting from the photographer’s exposure and shutter speed skillful techniques. For the purpose of creating exactly the right viewer sensation, Michael Levin sometimes makes repeated trips such as for the photograph: Akame Falls.
© Michael Levin
“All of the B&W photographs in my portfolio were shot on either 4×5 or medium format film. I typically travel for 2-3 weeks at a time with the sole purpose of finding photographs, Japan being my favorite location to shoot. On these trips I might expose several hundred negatives but only a couple will actually make it into my portfolio. In the example Akame Falls I clearly remember that I visited this location several times before I actually made a photograph that was suitable for my portfolio. I would take perhaps several long exposure shots of this exact composition changing shutter speeds to capture different visual effects.” Says Levin.
Another distinctive aspect of his photographs is the way each picture has a subtle energy that invites the viewer into the story of wondering what is taking place in the scene, and how the weather might be at that moment. Two examples are in Departing Ferry and Approaching Rains. Departing Ferry:
© Michael Levin
“Departing Ferry was shot in France and what I was trying to capture was the energy of that particular place. The lighthouse is at the harbor entrance where there are countless ferries shuffling people back and forth to England. The weather is notorious in this place as well so I set out to capture both of those elements set against the simplicity of the solid walkway out to the end of the pier. The white brushstroke on the right hand side of the image is the slow movement of a ferry passing by while the camera is exposing.” Levin says.
Approaching Rains:
© Michael Levin
“The image Approaching Rains is the result of having visited this location for almost a decade and always trying but never quite getting the right image. The weather cooperated with me on this particular visit and I really felt it was important to capture the cinematic qualities of this Torii Gate and dramatic cloudscape, hence the wide panoramic format,” Michael Levin says.
Indeed, many of the photographs almost look like paintings, because the colors and tones are so perfect. An example is Tuileries Fountain II. Levin attains the painterly quality from the color to the details of design, in creating a picture that is both painterly and photographically exquisite!
© Michael Levin
Tuileries Fountain II: ”I’ve been increasingly informed and inspired by the color palettes of 19th century landscape painters. The image Tuileries Fountain was shot in the springtime in Paris. I had just been visiting the Louvre so my head was filled with muted colors and I set out to make photography of this location while always considering the colors that I would infuse into the image later on. For me I’m not interested in capturing the literal translation of a scene, it’s more of a challenge to elevate it to something unexpected. That’s what photography is about for me.” Says Levin.
