BARB KREUTTER - EXPOSURE EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOWCASE

Since moving to Alberta, I have been told that the prairie landscape is flat, dull and boring. However, I have found incredible beauty in its minimal lines and shapes. During a recent drive through the countryside, I came across a lone prairie sentinel, more commonly known as a grain elevator. The light was shimmering across its wood siding in a mysterious way. Suddenly this project found me, asking me to capture the light and record the illusions in the decay of these few remaining grand wooden structures.

In 1923, the Swiss French architect Le Corbusier hailed these elevators' stark simplicity and unadorned geometric shapes as the ultimate in form and function. These tall, stark structures have very simple lines. Their unique surface textures are caused by the decay of the wood and paint. These are the elements that I love to photograph. I have discovered that each was painted with the colours of the various corporations that owned them, and I have tried to remain true to the colour palette of each of the elevators.

I have no personal connection to the farmers who used these buildings to store their grain, yet I am drawn to them as an echo of a lost way of life. They are, to my eye, simply pure in shape, form and colour.

In this series, my desire is to highlight the geometric aspect of what remains of these old buildings and to share my feelings through pattern and texture; in other words, what else can the sentinels be?

BIOGRAPHY

Over many years of being a professional weaver, glass blower and now a photographer, the interplay of colour has been my creative motivator. I am drawn to capture the subtle, beautiful patterns and textures found in everyday life.

Photography allows me to not only document what I see, but to express how I feel when seeing it. Over the past few years, I have been exploring uses for the technological components within my cameras, using more abstract methods like intentional camera movement and in camera multiple exposures, to create my images.

More recently I have begun to use various types of software to enhance my images to share my creative vision.

It is my wish that you will enjoy how I see life, as if you were standing next to me and are inspired to look more carefully at the world around you. Maybe you will discover beauty where you thought there was none.