Ascent

Vertical lines, stacked forms, everything reaching upward. Blooms against brick, cylinders into white, windows climbing stone. Geometry that breathes. Ten frames about the pull of height. This was a deliberate study in vertical composition — finding objects and structures that stack, ascend, or repeat upward. A hair clip angled against a dark metal bar. Marble blocks cantilevering into space. Circular screws marching up a grained wooden surface. Windows aligned on an exterior wall with a pipe running alongside them like a spine. Each frame isolated a different version of the same idea: things that go up. The entire set is monochrome. Color would have added information that didn't serve the concept — these frames are about form, line, and tonal contrast, and black and white strips everything else away. The high-contrast treatment gives the objects weight and graphic punch. Even the flower stems against the brick wall become abstract when you remove the distraction of green and white. The shooting ranged from tabletop still life on marble surfaces to architectural details found while walking. Some frames were set up carefully — the stacked blocks, the cylinders — while others were found: the windows, the tiled floor, the wooden screws. The mix of controlled and discovered compositions keeps the set from feeling like a classroom exercise. Eleven frames from a project that was about discipline more than spontaneity. Every frame had to earn its place through the strength of its geometry. "I really loved how those flower stems mirrored the angle of the hair clip against the metal – almost a hidden connection. It was a surprisingly bright day, too, for all that grey brick."