The Fragility of Abstract Photography... in homage to Aaron Siskind: The art of large format abstract photography

This is an eBook only publication of Paul White’s abstract photography he freely admits being inspired and in response to Aaron Siskind’s work. He first came across Siskind’s work whilst scouring the books shelves of the library where he worked and then a little later he found a perfect copy of Carl Chiarenza’s monograph on Siskind ‘Pleasures and Terrors’ in a small bookshop at Hay-on-Wye. This was in 1995, when White was 24 years of age. He was moved by Siskind’s photographs and words and immediately went out and began to set his large format camera up in various cities and towns, emulating Siskind’s style and personal expression. White has now produced a strong portfolio of abstract works and this volume shows a varied study and cross-section of his work, as well as the reasons why he chose such a narrow form of self expression. Paul White is well known for his black and white images of ruined farmhouses and mansions throughout Wales and has published two photographic books: ‘Ancestral Houses: The Lost Mansions of Wales’ (with poetry/prose by Damian Walford-Davies and Sian Melangell Davies) and ‘Poets Graves’ (with Damian Walford-Davies and Mererid Hopwood) both published by Gomer Press.