In “The Poetic Principle” Edgar Allan Poe wrote, “we struggle…to attain a portion of that Loveliness whose very elements appertain to eternity alone.” Poe’s unique perspective applies to the aspiration for the visual poetry presented by the “Illusions of Martha’s Vineyard,” a book created by photographer, James Schot, in 1997. It was accepted by the renowned Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Within its pages, visual art lovers will discover romanticism in the Lily Pond Illusion, classicism in the Black Pond Bridge Illusion, and the chilling narrative in the Ghost of Chilmark Woods Illusion. They can reflect in nautical history relating to the American Revolution and Whaling era in the Figurehead Illusion, consider the dichotomy in the Hay Path Road Illusion and smile viewing the whimsical nature of the Standby Line Illusion. All the Illusions function to heighten an understanding of “beauty is truth, truth beauty” as penned by Keats in 1883, and represented in nature and the human form.
While the poetry of photographic imagery is at the heart of the “Illusions of Martha’s Vineyard,” the impact would be lessened without two most essential elements: 1) showing through exploration and experimentation the capacity of photography, and 2) the in-the-camera creativity, with the novel use of optics and lighting that retains the organic appeal of a purely photographic process.
You are sure to enjoy the photographic visions in the “Illusions of Martha’s Vineyard,” and all the award-winning camera artwork to be introduced in the documentary Photography as Art. This video production is an expression of creative joy and the love James Schot has for the uncompromised raw photographs captured by camera and light. His work is breathtaking!
