Affinity of Form

Book excerpt: "Some photographers take their pictures; others make them. Neither notion seems right in describing Stanford Lipsey's work, however, for the spirit behind these pictures is one of natural discovery, something that comes before process." -Anthony Bannon, Director of Eastman House Stanford Lipsey's passion for fine art photography began in Aspen, Colorado 30 years ago with the sight of a simple pine cone seen through a macro lens. Ever since this revelatory moment, Lipsey has dedicated himself to revealing simple truths and a visual language of the natural world hidden around us. Whether it be cloud formations in an azure sky, light ripples in shimmering water, a dense pine forest, gentle ice crystals, or austere glass architecture, Lipsey's photographs suggest a sense of the inexplicable universal links that bond the elements and matter. Affinity of Form, Lipsey's first monograph, brings that vision to bear on a wide array of commonplace subjects from our everyday world. In the vein of Aaron Siskind, Lipsey's camera fixes frequently on surfaces, abstracting them in such a way that they become visual objects unto themselves, independent of their sources and newly compelling. Other images take a longer view, allowing monumental structures, both natural and man-made, to revert to basic shapes. A newspaperman by profession, Lipsey draws on a long-honed ability to capture events at precisely the right moment-in this case, the moment when mundane objects cease to be themselves, transforming within the frame into something far more artful and mysterious. "I'm rather eclectic in what I shoot," he says, "but all forms of nature, abstracts, and architecture inspire me to create imagery that escapes the naked eye."