Two figures walk through the forest at the bank of reflecting waters, the Atlantic Ocean greedily sloshes, the morning willow sways. In tremor low, the images of writer and artist S*an D. Henry-Smith capture poetic, sometimes melancholic scenes. Other works highlight textural and intertwined patterns found in nature in a very sensory way. Many photos are the result of long wandering walks in the city and far beyond, with the artist acting as an intuitive and reverent witness to their surroundings.
The landscape itself and (chance) encounters with people or animals are recurring subjects that present themselves to them. Like the undisturbed grazing cows they encountered near Gein or a glimpse of a friend’s face under an umbrella.
The photographs of this series may invite a documentary legibility at first, yet it feels as if more than merely the landscape, a person, or an animal is captured. This may be the artist’s personal experience of being there and then, something they consciously intend to convey to the image. Or perhaps it is the accumulated echoes of time; subtle connections to unarticulated past events that are revealed to us in moments of blur. In yet other works, we encounter art historical, literary, and critical references. It is not easy to point out what exactly happens in the images, Henry-Smith leaves it open-ended, offering a realm for unspoken speculation and the suspension of interpretation.
At ROZENSTRAAT an evolving constellation of photographs was presented for the first time in Amsterdam. The images were shown in an experimental way, in varying formats and sizes, and were complemented by written works and a performance further on in the exhibition. Together the works formed a poetic visual rhyme featuring the (mainly Dutch) landscape and the artist’s friends.