Underneath Urangan Pier, at Hervey Bay on the Queensland coast, the structure becomes something else entirely. Above, it is a deck and a railing and a place to walk. Below, it is a colonnade, two rows of pylons standing in the water and repeating away from you until they are too small and too close together to tell apart. Nobody designed this to be looked at. It is simply what holds the thing up.
I had come for a photograph on the deck above, and stopped here on the way out, at the base of the steps, with low light coming through from the far end.
Repetition does something particular to a mind. Rhythm without demand is the condition attention rests in most easily, when there is a pattern to follow but nothing to solve, and the eye can move without being asked for anything. Add to that the plain fact of being underneath something, sheltered, with the open water on both sides and the noise of the day happening on the boards overhead. The nervous system reads that arrangement quickly and stands down.
Into the Infinite is that corridor of repeating supports, running out toward a point where the pattern closes and there is nothing left to count.
.
This pier has now given me two photographs that look nothing alike. I wrote about why the receding line keeps drawing me back, above the boards and beneath them, in Where Attention Leads: The Quiet Discipline of the Receding Path.
Photographed beneath Urangan Pier at Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia, from the water's edge at the shore end, looking out along the underside toward the open bay, in low light late in the day. Made as a black-and-white long exposure that renders the water as smooth mist around the supports. The subject is the pier's substructure, two rows of cylindrical pylons carrying the deck beams out over the bay, receding in even intervals toward a vanishing point where the rows converge. Presented as a horizontal panorama, offered as an archival limited edition print from 16 by 40 inches to 32 by 80 inches on acrylic, metal, or archival paper.
Each image is released in limited editions, with edition size set by presentation and scale, so the most substantial works remain the most rare.
Every work ships insured and arrives with a signed certificate of authenticity.
If a piece is damaged in transit, the choice of replacement is always yours, and your edition number stays with you.
Production time runs 2 to 3 weeks for metal, 3 to 4 weeks for acrylic and paper, and 5 to 6 weeks for framed work.
Collector Edition of 25 · Lumachrome TruLife Acrylic · Handcrafted Italian Frame
TruLife acrylic in a handcrafted Italian frame with a linen liner chosen for the image. Frame series, finish, and liner are settled with you after the order, and production begins from there. The frame and liner add about fourteen inches to the finished dimensions, worth allowing for when planning placement.
Signature Edition of 50 · Lumachrome TruLife Acrylic · Gallery Float Mount
Face-mounted to TruLife acrylic and floated approximately one inch from the wall, with no frame to mediate between the image and the room. UV-resistant, anti-reflective, and scratch-resistant, with a lifetime guarantee against fading.
Signature Edition of 50 · ChromaLuxe Metal Print · Gallery Float Mount
Color infused into the aluminum panel itself, floated from the wall on a concealed system. Where acrylic produces luminosity, metal produces clarity. Exceptional fade resistance with no glazing or coating required.
Fine Art Edition of 100 · Hahnemühle Baryta Fine Art Paper
Printed without acrylic, so light meets the paper surface directly. Highlights stay luminous, shadows keep their nuance, and the surface has a tactile quality the other presentations approach differently. The understated choice, and the traditional one.
Complimentary shipping within the continental United States. International collector shipping available upon request.
Still deciding
Designing for Stillness
A guide to choosing art for restorative spaces
How to tell whether an image will still hold you in a year, how scale changes what a photograph does in a room, and how to match a piece to the work a room actually performs. It cites the research it draws on, and it is equally clear about where that research stops. About ten minutes to read.