STUDY IN COLORS #1, a photo from Virginia, South

Photographer's Note

CHIHULY #1

It is explained at his website that Dale Chihuli was born in 1941 in the city of Tacoma, Washington State (not Washington, DC), that he was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington, and that after graduating in 1965, he enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. The website also explains that he continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade. His professional biography also includes his training at the Venini glass factory in Venice, observing the team approach to blowing glass.

What is known to Chihuly’s legion of fans are the extraordinarily beautiful colors that he achieves in his blown glass creations. Artistically he is creative and original. He is successful beyond words for disseminating his artistic productivity in exhibitions held around the world. In the early 16th century, the Venetian Master Titian (Titziano) had collaborated with the glassblowers in Murano to learn about some of their secrets in achieving certain colors, especially the reds. Subsequently, Raphael hired away one of Titian’s assistants and his colors became more vibrant, especially the reds.

I live in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 80 km (50 miles) south of Washington, DC and 80 km north of Richmond, Virginia. In February, family and friends had already seen the special Chihuly exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) in Richmond, and the exhibition was about to come to a close. I knew VMFA was extraordinarily gracious in allowing photography at the exhibition. Accordingly, on February 6 I took my camera gear — a Nikon D200, a compact Nikon S9300, and my iPhone 4 and drove down to Richmond, where I produced several dozen photos. I had the opportunity to compare the equipment, and to experiment with the lighting and colors. In the series I am launching here. What was no surprise to me was that under certain limited conditions I could achieve better results with the iPhone than with the two Nikons.

This first photo in the series shows a handful of visitors shooting photos of the transparent ceiling in one of the hallways, with colored Chihuli glass, backlit. The camera is a compact Nikon Coolpix S9300. In subsequent images I will show the artwork, and in some cases visitors attending the exhibition. Accordingly, they will be uploaded into the group theme, Pictures at an Exhibition.

I recently created a new group theme, Symphonies in Color, adding this photo into the collection. The expression, "A symphony of colors," is the way the great Expressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Théo, described the works of French landscape artist Jules Dupré (1811-1889). Van Gogh's words are also appropriate in describing the still life depicted here. I welcome other TE members to add to the theme.

worldcitizen, Kofman, papagolf21, Sonata11, Graal, ChrisJ, mayjayne, adramad, maria-v1981, Gigidusud, daddo, Vasa, jhm, marabu61, delpeoples, ktanska, TRB, ikeharel, annjackman, Cricri, ebingul, adores, aliabazari has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ACL1978 (5689) 2013-03-03 8:42

I recently saw a Chihuli sculpture at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock; he is really a genuine master artist, and this shot shows some of the skill, marrying technical and aesthetic ability perfectly. The light cast on the wall here is exquisite. Wonderful colors, and I like the inclusion of the other tourists here, as it places the artwork in its proper context, as something to be viewed and experienced, here from below. Thanks!

Andrew

eldancer1 (16938) 2013-03-03 8:54

At first I thought this was taken at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. The casino has a great display of those glass artwork. Awesome capture of the lighting and wonderful colors. Good idea to included the people for scale. Well done, tfs.

worldcitizen (4848) 2013-03-03 9:00

Hello Bulent,
Having the glass art above the people creates a magical effect. It reminds me of the ambiance you would find in an aquarium, with the light filtering through in different designs. Your photo shows both the glass art, and the visitors enjoying it, very nicely. The colors are beautiful, but I am more fascinated by the filtered light. Very nice!

wolf38 (28146) 2013-03-03 9:11

Hello Bulent. An interesting and vivid picture of the world of art. Fine composition and excellent technical quality. The colors are phenomenal.
Rgds wolfgang.

serp2000 (29128) 2013-03-03 9:40

Good morning, Bulent,
Original and very attractive photo, perfect quality for so difficult conditions in the room. And very informative note. Thanks!
Best wishes,
Serghei

halikarnas (5625) 2013-03-03 10:36

Bülent Bey,
Muhteşem renkler,harika bir armoni.
Aşağıda sağdaki siyahlik muhteşem.
Herşeyi ile bir USTA işi.
Tebrikler.
Ataman

Susus7 (95) 2013-03-03 11:42

Great shot you got there! One of the ladies looks familiar to me! I too have more photos to share of this show. The tricky part was that we were not allowed to use flash! Let us know when and where your next lecture will be.
Thanks, Susu

resat1972 (5960) 2013-03-03 12:27

Bülent bey merhaba
Nefis renkler
Çok güzel
Tfs
Reşat

rbassin (11077) 2013-03-03 12:28

Hello Bulent
une superbe photo, l'endroit coloré donne des idées aux photographes.
C'est bien présenté, bon cadrage.
Bonne soirée
Roland

papagolf21 (76453) 2013-03-03 14:20

Bonsoir, cher ami Bulent,
Vos compositions sont toujours un pur régal pour l'oeil et pour l'esprit.
Ici, encore, grâce à la note d'accompagnement nous pouvons apprécier la beauté des réalisations de l'artiste.
Le lien est passionnant.
Un grand merci, cher Bulent.
Amitiés.
Philippe

npecanhuk (53829) 2013-03-03 15:04

Hi Bulent!
Interesting capture here, specially for the colors and light you've gotten! Unique details on that ceiling!
TFS - congrats,
Enjoy your week,
Neyvan

Sonata11 (28209) 2013-03-03 16:45

Hello Bulent,
very beautiful capture of this impressive scene of study in color. Magnificent moment you capture this image with fantastic colors, sharpness, clarity , great light, POV. I really love this photo. Perfectly well done. TFS.
Warm regards,
Barbara

emka (57992) 2013-03-03 23:21

Hello Bulent,

Amazing photo. what one can do with a glass! The colours are really spectacular. Fantastic play of lights and reflections. Magical photo. Including people was an excellent idea. Superb quality of the image.I am looking forward to seeing more photos from this exhibition.

Warm regrads from Warsaw

Malgorzata

Graal (88784) 2013-03-03 23:25

Hi Bulent,
interesting presentation of work of unusual artist - Dale Chihuli. Amazing colourful painted glass. Good captured scene with touristes here. Very nice exhibition. Photo I like.
Have a nice week.
Aleksander

Schnappilic (7895) 2013-03-04 3:09

Hello Bulent,

Superb play of color and light, good framing, amazing result! Congratulations!

Best regards,

Ovidiu

ChrisJ (86766) 2013-03-04 7:28

Bülent Bey,

A good catch of the female photographers with wonderful upper color & saturation. Good sharpness and wonderful streaked patterns on the bg wall formed by the light steaming through & reflecting. The exit sign is well positioned in the frame. Tfs!

mayjayne (2792) 2013-03-04 8:10

DEar Bulent,

The coloured Chihuli glass display is very unique and lovely. The backlighting allows the coloured light to come through, creating a mystical effect in the room, which was well captured as well. Truly an amazing composition. Reminds me of the time I was visiting Park City and helping a close friend do up his new home. We had bought some Malaysia kites (or better known as 'Wau Bulan' in Malaysia) and they were intalled just below the ceiling, with some backlighting as well, and the effect is quite similar to this.

Warm regards,
May

adramad (27544) 2013-03-04 8:23

Hello Bulent.
Very good and original composition with these photographers captured at the time of capture those wonderful colors, the design of this spectacular glass roof, which is a real work of art.
Beautiful palette.
Very good brightness and sharpness.
Well done. I love
Have a good day.
Best wishes.
Luis.

maria-v1981 (10403) 2013-03-04 8:57

Hello Bulent,
A maestria of colors. I really appreciate this picture and the nice balance between colors, movements and slopes.
Have a nice evening,
Regards,
Maria

Silvio1953 (97953) 2013-03-04 11:07

Ciao Bulent, great view of fantastic place, lovely composition with photographers in action, beautiful clarity, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Gigidusud (7944) 2013-03-04 11:55

Hello Dear Bulent,
Nice scene with creative and original work of art.I like the colors and the reflections.Well done!
Greeting from Marseille.
Ghislaine

daddo (18517) 2013-03-04 16:01

Salam Bulent Bey. A fascinatingly bright and colourful exhibition which is obviously captivating the photographers. The young woman with her mouth agape confirms the mood of wonder. Ephemeral, dreamlike and beautiful. Interesting to read your note about the equipment and of course about Titziano. Best wishes. Klaudio.

Vasa (15970) 2013-03-04 16:22

Dear Bulent,

it is happy meeting with this photo. I like it very much. Great chromo temptation. Question of composition and my opinion: the girl in the middle is enough. If you eliminate two ones from the right the subject should be more clear. That suppose also that you eliminate all is on the right side (to get the dimension of mystery, maybe without "Exit"... All I am saying is a solution.

A visit your gallery with emotions and admiration, friend. Warm regards,

Branko

jhm (122314) 2013-03-05 3:49

Dear Bulent,

Your title says almost everything, this is indeed a very nice color palette.
We get wonderful reflections whereby also the wall in background care for additional colors
Sharpness and clarity is very nice.
Excellent composition, also a very nice subject.
Pleasant for look at. TFS.

Have a nice Thuesday,
John

mesutilgim (67856) 2013-03-05 5:07

Selam sevgili Bülent,
Another amazing capture in your gallery with very good pov and layout. Nice brigth colors.
The photographer being photographed is the "bonus" of this nice scenery.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

marabu61 (3865) 2013-03-05 7:21

Hello Bulent
Now that is quite psychedelic with all those shining colors, like in a LSD dream (not that I would know though).
I personnaly never liked the Murano glass, far to kitsch and colorful, but it makes certainly for an attractive photo subject.
have a good evening
Daniel

MLINES (12516) 2013-03-05 12:50

Hi Bulent, Good 3-D effect with vibrant colours and good notes, as always. Digital photos are making the whole world open up to us all these days. Well cropped with the three people looking towards the open space. TFS. Murray
PS was in Bali recently at mining meeting, what a beautiful place.

delpeoples (44888) 2013-03-05 16:20

Merhaba dear Bulent

Wow, I thought this was part of a Chinese New Year festival. But what an unusual and very beautiful photo you bring us of this extraordinary man Chihuli. I'd never heard of him, but will do some more investigating. The photo is superb, beautifully lit, with such an artistic play of light and shade. The other people included in the shot give us a good sense of scale and context. Thanks for sharing.

Wrmest regards
Lisa

Kamilutka (3207) 2013-03-06 8:22

Bulent,
this is indeed interesting work - I like the colors and light - they seem to play a subtle game with the senses. Very well captured scene of photographers.
Good composition and perfect proportions.
Thanks for sharing
Kamila

ktanska (21495) 2013-03-06 11:22

Hi Bulent,
I would love to see that with my own eyes. Ceiling installation has very strong 3D feeling even on this smallish picture. And light coming through makes special patterns on the wall. Amazing.
Kari

willperrett (2949) 2013-03-06 13:21

Hello Bulent
I like the fact that you've shown us a teasing prelude to this lovely glasswork, and at the same time included some of the other visitors. So we get a slightly disconcerting image which takes a moment to orientate. I like it!
Regards
Will

TRB (12303) 2013-03-06 14:39

selam Hocam,
yumuşak renklerine ve ışığına bayıldım.
Fotoğrafçılarla çok güzel kompozisyon.
tebrikler, selam ve saygılar

Tülay

pajaran (36119) 2013-03-07 21:35

Pozdrav.
Vrlo interesantan i dobar tekst o umetniku sa datim podacima ...
Lep pogled na posetioce i mural ...
Dobar trenutak snimka, kontrast, lepe boje.
Lep trenutak i mural ...
Dobar rad, lepo pokazano.
Sve najbolje.
Paja.

Greetings.
Very interesting and good text about the artist with the given data ...
Nice view of the visitors and the mural ...
A good time recording, contrast, beautiful color.
A nice moment and a mural ...
Good work, well demonstrated.
All the best.
Paja.

ikeharel (37190) 2013-03-08 3:26

Hello Bulent,
Fantastic colors composition indoor's the exhibition hall.
Years back there was a Chihuli glass & light exhibition within the old Jerusalem walls, I was there but it was before the digital era, so have no pictures from.
His artwprk is a unique and intriguing displays.
You conveyed well the ambiance and enthusiastic mood there.
Best regards,
Ike

annjackman (13171) 2013-03-09 0:07

Hello Bulent,
This is a fascinating photo with the waterfall of colour tumbling down on the people. The light and colours are magical. I enjoyed reading the note very much. An excellent TE post.
Kind Regards, Ann

Cricri (86295) 2013-03-09 6:25

Hi Bulent
Tout simplement merveilleux a voir, très colorées, lumineux, une belle oeuvre d'art qui mérite d'être vue
Belle journée
cricri

Royaldevon (17713) 2013-03-09 14:36

Hello Bulent,

I have never heard of this artist before (we all have gaps in our knowledge) but I find this study wonderfully creative. The backlit glass gives the impression of being under the sea.
You have composed the shot beautifully, showed the interaction of the visitors and relayed a sense of the atmosphere to us, the viewers.

Have a lovely Sunday,
Bev :-)

ifege (9408) 2013-03-09 20:32

Hi Bulent
A great study of colour as well as of those snapping photos of it.
cheers
Ian

ebingul (1760) 2013-03-10 12:58

Merhaba Bülent bey,
Olağanüstü renkleri,yansımaları,kompozisyonu ve ışık yönetimiyle çok başarılı bir fotoğraf.Tebrikler,elinize ve gözünüze sağlık.
Emin

adores (28178) 2013-03-14 17:22

Hi Bulent!
Seems a really interesting exhibition! And here, people really seem to enjoy it. I like the composition, with the people, the reflections... It gives us an idea of how it looks like!

aliabazari (10105) 2013-03-19 7:37

Hi Bulent Dear
Very beautiful and attractive appearance. Very well.

Regards ...

zoomer (3580) 2013-03-20 17:52

Hi,intriguing and original idea to include the photographers.The art above with the light reflecting on the wall makes a fascinating composition.Friendly regards,Wolf.

Urs (11722) 2013-04-15 3:31

Hi Bulent

How are you? I hope everything is fine. As you see I'm again back to TE after a long absence. Let's see how long I will have time to visit TE daily. Your shot above fascinates me a lot, these vibrant colour hues and pictures on the ceiling are superb. It is a great idea indeed. Well done

Warm regards
Urs