William Noland

Images of Images

This ongoing series encompasses both stillness and duration. The work grew directly from observational moving image portraits, each minutes long, in which individuals are seen in absorptive, private thought. The still images here seek a photographic encounter with a human presence, looking to convey a sense of stillness that does not seem so still the longer you look.

In their printed form these are exacting, large-scale portraits of fragments of carefully selected photographs from the past that are, in effect, photographic reincarnations, simultaneously depicting an individual as well as illuminating the history of the examined photographs. The subtle material changes that time and circumstance have wrought on each source image provide a counterpoint to the startling immediacy and presence of the individuals depicted.

In photography’s first 75 years portraits were most often made using long exposure times, resulting in an intense engagement between subject and camera. Such encounters often generate a sense of presence due to the stillness and active collaboration required of those posing, who are seen here anchored, staring back, held in check by earth's gravity, actively participating in the moment.