John Sexton and The Shuttle

[David Hall]

I wonder what John Sexton is feeling these days after all the photographing he did of the space shuttles, including Columbia.

It is interesting to think that the Place Of Power he photograped at Cape Canaveral shattered in the thinnest of wind, literally, as it flew into the top of the sky. So much power, so much fragility, all at the same time.

I wonder what he thinks as he reviews those prints now...if he would want to have photographed differently, printed differently, so that the images of the shuttle would show more of what he knows now but didn't know then.

dgh

 

[Mark in SD]

I'm not sure that he would change much. Many of his photographs show the shuttle as dependent on a large support infrastructure and do show the frailty of the shuttle. We just weren't aware of those aspects before so we didn't see them, focused as we were on the power.

 

[Les McLean]

A couple of years ago I was privledged to spend two days with John when we were both giving lectures at a Calumet show in Chicago. John gave a lecture about making the photographs for Places of Power and it seems he had good access at every location. I'm sure that John gave a lot of though to his portrayal of those places and I think the images reflect that. He is a thinking caring man and I don't think he would change much in the light of the recent disaster.

 

[Mark in SD]

Looking at those pictures also gets you thinking aobut how the meaning of art can change over time. Good art, in my opinion, won't always say the same thing to you. It will evoke different thoughts and emotions based on life experiences. What those shuttle pictures said to us before is not what they will say to us now.

That isn't bad, but usually the meaning of pictures changes over longer periods of time. Right now, it is kind of like looking at a double exposed negative. I get conflicting feelings.

 

[David Hall]

Mark,


You are exactly right. I was looking at Sexton's book from a whole new perspective last night before I started this thread. Looking at things differently in his pictures, like left wings and underbelly tiles.

dgh