Allie Haeusslein

This is a large-format photography book featuring Chris McCaw's "Sunburn" series, which were created using gelatin-silver papers for time-lapse photos of the sky. Several of the plates unfold to three or four panels wide, while others are confined to only one page. My copy was "signed" by the artist - he hand-cut the frontispiece print (which is two-sided) to match the original photo: the technique McCaw uses for his time-lapses means the sun actually burns through the paper as it crosses the sky.

The images are beautiful, ethereal, and have been on my mind since I first encountered them in January 2013 in the art museum as part of an exhibition of experimental photography and film, particularly works the blur the line between the two ("SLOW: Marking Time in Photography and Film", MOCA Jacksonville, January-March 2013). After several years of talking about McCaw's work, I decided I should finally buy the last copy of his book lingering in the museum shop. I particularly love the images that incorporate reflections in water and those that have trees in the foreground, for the way they play with and highlight the concept. (The trees become negatives where the sun crosses their path, turning white against the heave black streak, while the reflections just look cool.) Sometimes the photos show the sun streaking, while others are stochastic with individual dots as he shielded or opened the specialty lens to the sky.

There are 43 photos in the book, and they are worth a look. I'm not really someone to buy art books - I often get them free because of my job - but I definitely had to buy this one, and I'm so glad to be able to say it is mine.… (mehr)