By Rebecca Wallace
About this blog: I grew up in Menlo Park and have long been involved with both local journalism and local theater. After starting my career as an editorial intern with The Almanac, I was a staff reporter for the Almanac and the San Mateo County Ti...
(More)About this blog: I grew up in Menlo Park and have long been involved with both local journalism and local theater. After starting my career as an editorial intern with The Almanac, I was a staff reporter for the Almanac and the San Mateo County Times, covering local government, cops, health/science and many other beats. In 2005 I made the move to the arts desk at the Palo Alto Weekly. A&E is close to my heart because of my experience in the performing arts. I've been acting and singing in Bay Area theater productions for years, and have played everything from a sassy French boy to a Texas cheerleader. In Ad Libs, I blog about the exhibitions I see, the artists I meet and the intriguing new projects and trends I see in the arts world.
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Why black and white? Why not, if you can make a ceiling lamp look like a marvelous stained-glass fractal without any color?
Fine-art photographer Cole Thompson, he of the lamp fractals, will address that very question in a talk on Oct. 24 at the Palo Alto Children's Theatre. The Palo Alto Camera Club is bringing him in to speak about his philosophies and techniques, and perhaps about the black-and-white world he grew up in.
The image above is very much part of the modern world. It depicts a ceiling lamp that Thompson shot in a Minneapolis Ikea in 2010, a photo that's part of his striking series. "The first time I really noticed a ceiling lamp was in a hotel lobby in Uniontown, Ohio,"Thompson wrote on his website. "I was intrigued by how it looked when I stood directly below it; from that perspective it was an abstract kaleidoscope and didn't resemble the functional object that I had viewed from the side.As I lay on the lobby floor, studying the lamp, I decided to produce this portfolio."
He added, "Everywhere I go, I still find myself looking up."
Pictured: "Ceiling Lamp, Ikea - Minneapolis, MN - 2010." By Cole Thompson.
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