SUBLIME MOMENTS
Victor Hamm
Central Gallery
June 11 to September 3, 2011
Curated by Jann LM Bailey
The exhibition of photographs by Kamloops artist Victor Hamm can be scrutinized from many different perspectives—technically, spiritually, politically and aesthetically. They are images of architectural or natural elements which can function on a more personal level as metaphors for subjective experience. Like the cracking and crumbling surface of the work in the Kamloops Art Gallery’s permanent collection, The Men’s Residence, Tranquille, these exquisite and overtly detailed images imply a certain fragility and vulnerability. To those of us living in the Thompson/Nicola region of British Columbia the images are deeply authentic.
Inspired by the work of Ansel Adams (1902-1984), an American photographer and environmentalist renowned for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park, Victor Hamm strives to attain the pure essence of the land and the sublime moments that have little or no human activity. The works in this exhibition are no exception. Hamm concentrates on the fundamental nature of what is in front of him, strongly defined subject matter, weather patterns and ambient light. Light plays a significant role in his work and Hamm’s interest in the natural landscape and how light continually redefines it, is paramount. He is motivated not only by his sense of aesthetics but also a love of the natural environment and his desire to see it protected.
Hamm has been interested in photography from a very early age, experimenting throughout the history of photographic technology from his first Brownie camera, to the diverse, technological characteristics of 21st century digital imaging.
The works in this exhibition are created using a Nikon D2X digital camera and printed using the Giclee process. The Giclee process was invented in the early 1990s to produce high-resolution digital scans using special large format printers. Most Giclees are printed onto various substrates—canvas, photo-based and fine art papers—using archival quality inks which provide extraordinary colour accuracy and longevity.
Victor Hamm
Men’s Residence, Tranquille, 2007
giclee print
Collection of the Kamloops Art Gallery, Purchased with financial support from the Province of BC
