The main subject of my upcoming photography solo exhibition actually influenced the title of the show, and it's all about the leaves. My love of nature photography got the better of me this time around as I was drawn into a theme that had me completely mesmerised. It all happened in the early months of 2001 as the April showers came down with a vengeance, sometimes pouring almost continuously for days on end.Young leaves
At the back of the house where I lived at the time was a small lush area of banana trees rising from the ground about 15 feet below. At eye level, where I stood, I could see young virgin leaves sprouting forth - right, left and centre. This mass of wet green leaves had an effect on me and I began studying each tree, each leaf, carefully between each shower of rain. The continuous wet period caused some leaves to appear Vaseline-covered, developing a sheen of green all its own.
Then suddenly, the unexpected happened late one afternoon as I sat on my back patio scanning Stony Hill in the background as the bright, warm evening sun broke through the western skies to cast its spell on each banana leaf, glistening off hundreds of beads of rain water, like tiny diamonds lying on a bed of green. I immediately dashed for my Nikon 8008 35mm SLR camera, my 100-300 telephoto lens, my tripod and a roll of film. I didn't want to lose out on the crisp, clean atmosphere that usually followed a good shower of rain.
As I stood ankle-deep in water and scanning through my lens, I knew that time was of the essence; with each composition I saw the lighting begin to change. All of a sudden, the leaves began to emerge into graphic and abstract images right before my eyes. I was now trying to express my own perspective as deeply as possible with the essence of artistry, by pushing myself to make creative images.
The Sierra
Ansel Adams, whose efforts elevated the respect for fine-art photography, and included founding the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York once said "it is difficult to explain the magic, to lie in a small recess of the granite matrix of the Sierra and watch the progress of dusk to night, the incredible brilliance of the stars, the waning of the glittering sky into dawn, and the following sunrise on the peaks and domes around me. And always the cool dawn wind that I believe to be the prime benediction of the Sierra. These qualities to which I deeply respond were distilled into my pictures over the decades. I knew my destiny when I first experienced Yosemite."
Like Ansel, nature provided me the perfect subject, and I can now identify with him in what he has experienced. With many things on my mind, I would like to believe that I literally pushed myself through tireless efforts with nature itself as my source of inspiration as I was now completely focused on banana leaves. I tried to find the widest approach using every means that I had at my disposal; time and location was not important. I would get up at the crack of dawn, studying these leaves at every hour of the day, against every colour of the sky, in bright sunlight, during rain, after the rain, at every stage of growth and in different locations islandwide.
Every time I went in search, nature would reveal its magic! I believe that as photographers, we need vision, the ability to see deeply and in new ways. We also need to let go of our instinct to control our surroundings and plan the outcome. Without expectations except that of discovery, images will come during the simple process of exploring nature.
I became a friend of the banana tree and gained much knowledge of understanding the subject. I began to see and feel from the heart, and to resolve that vision with my personal view and technique. I knew that none of these images would ever be repeated in life, and yet, I sometimes wonder whether fortune or pure luck was a major factor. When my mother encouraged me as a youngster to study cloud formations for images, I believed that something important was instilled within my mind from those tender years.
I find it fascinating that the simple subject of a banana leaf could have such an effect on my vision. I don't think it was fortune or pure luck as wasin the case of my historic images of the 1978 Bob Marley One Love Peace Concert. While photographing my banana leaf series, I had total control in where I stood; when I photographed; what I composed within the frame; how well I imagined the results; the tools I used to make each exposure. I didn't have the benefit of using a digital camera to view the images right away as I was shooting with colour negative film and colour transparencies.
Using your senses
Freeman Patterson said, "Seeing, in the finest and broadest sense, means using your senses, your intellect and your emotions. It means encountering your subject matter with your whole being. It means looking beyond the labels of things and discovering the remarkable world around you."
In making each exposure, it was nature's pure beauty that made me want to click the shutter. Nature provided me with the perfect lighting, colour, each leaf in its perfect position as seen in every image and absolutely no manipulation in the computer. With my knowledge and experience, I used my ability to adjust perspective, contrast, length of exposure, sharpness and depth of field. I found a great subject, but it was the little things that made a big difference. What you'll see in my exhibition is what I saw in my camera, nothing more, nothing less.
I could have decided to have gone breadfruit or cannabis, but I chose bananas, and I'm glad I did! I do hope that everyone who takes time out to visit my exhibition will begin to see beauty in every square foot of this planet Earth. I strongly believe that we should also protect our world-renown natural habitats such as Jamaica's wetlands and our own Cockpit Country. We don't want our green untouched forests to be disturbed and to contribute to more red mud lakes, the stains of which would indelibly remain on our consciences for generations to come. My personal motto remains 'Creativity' in my mind is invisible, but God has made it visible through my work.
My exhibition of colour photographs, entitled 'Howard Moo Young Gone Bananas' and sponsored by the Jamaica Producers Group Ltd., will be officially opened by Her Excellency The Most Honourable Mrs. Rheima Hall on Sunday, February 25, at Oakton Park Gallery, Oakton Park, Half-Way Tree. The exhibition is open for public viewing from Monday, February 26 and closes on March 24.
For further information, call Howard Moo Young at 840-3357.
