Sunburned GSP #655 (Strait of Juan de Fuca)

Artist Chris McCaw (American, born 1971)

Date2013

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage (each): 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches (25.08 x 20 cm)
Sheet (each): 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches (25.08 x 20 cm)
Composition: 9 7/8 x 31 3/4 inches (25.08 x 80.65 cm)
Framed: 13 1/2 x 35 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches (34.29 x 89.54 x 3.81 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation

Object number2013.20.1

SignedPer Gallery, each element is signed, titled and dated on verso in pencil.

InscribedPer Gallery, each element is signed, titled and dated on verso in pencil.

Markingsnone

On View

Not on view

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Photography

Terms

DescriptionFour images mounted next to one another with horizon line and arch extending across all images.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

This four-panel image records the sun as it rises, moves across the sky and sets beneath the horizon. To make this piece, Chris McCaw loaded his large-format camera with four pieces of light sensitive paper. During the hours-long exposure, the sun literally seared its path into the paper, and a tonal inversion known as solarization occurred. The resulting image renders the sun’s path as a burnt line with the landscape in complete reversal. McCaw here deliberately ignores the admonition never to look directly into the sun, using it instead as a starting point for his creative process. His work ultimately highlights the dual power of creation and destruction inherent in the sun’s power.

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