Winter Inspiration

Winter Inspiration: A Nuance that Melts the Chill

by Clara Rose Thornton

1thevalleyundersnow Rolling farmland brims with an unbroken sparkle. Conifers hold onto their prickle of green, poking through the dusty black and white of mountain vistas. Tree trunks stand spindly and unadorned, lamenting the loss of foliage, while ice floes rush at their feet down rivers that careen through silent forests.

This is winter in New England.

Nor’easters and New England’s heavy snowfall are ominous and legendary. Yet there’s something to be said for the distinctness of four seasons and their gradual rotation through winter. Chilly winds rattling windows while one is safe inside by a fire, enjoying the introspection and increased time with loved ones that accompany the season, is as dynamic as any summer escapade. And many artists who enjoy capturing the distinctness of winter find its qualities not only inwardly enriching, but aesthetically and physically rich, as well.

6grnmtnhilltoptreash Possibly even more than for winter landscape painting, this is true for winter photography. In photography, there is less personal interpretation involved than there is the pristine, precise capturing of a moment in time. Even with photographic styles that utilize image manipulation, the blank canvas is a reproduction of truth already imprinted. Crisp and richly detailed, winter’s aesthetics are a pre-packaged delight for those living through the lens.

“I do nontraditional black and white photography, with antiquated and alternative processes,” said Linda Treash of Barnard. “When you’re working with black and white, the snow, and winter in Vermont, particularly lends itself to it. Looking at black and white you’re looking at shadow and textures, all of which I find to be particularly rich in the winter.”

“I love to photograph trees, which in winter are either covered in snow or create a contrast to the snow that’s alluring,” Treash continued. “We spend half the year in Vermont with no leaves on the trees, but the trees themselves—the shape of the branches—have a dynamic shape. They stand out in the winter.”

3winterlightmccallum Alistair McCallum of Mt. Holly feels similarly. “I like to work with shadows and light. Tree patterns in the sunlight against the snow—I find that very inspirational. I work in black and white, so the winter is made for me. I focus in on the borders of the landscape, the unveiling of the landscape, with the trees and hills having receded into their barer structures. Another theme I like to work with is natural oddities up close—crusted ice around streams, icicles with their abstract qualities.” 4winterstreammccallum

McCallum’s “Winter Stream” exemplifies this. The outlines of rocks are given a ghostly heightening and definition, the white animating the structures as opposed to covering. McCallum’s achromatic values are stunning and pronounced here. White intermingling with the glassy gradated gray of the river and the geometry of deep black etched down its side is spectral. His “Winter Light,” which captures the elongated shadows of trees against a snowy field, plays with the achromatic effect using a high-contrast reversal of black against white, the grays more subtle and nearly non-existent.

5grnmtnviewtreash Treash’s photos, by contrast, produce a haunting effect in a way reminiscent of a past era or moment still struggling to exist with us—as opposed to McCallum’s hyper-defined immediate reality.

One of the alternative processes she employs is the bromoil. Bromoils are hand-inked gelatin prints. Original photographs are bleached and then re-painted using brushes and sponges. The process produces the feeling of a perception yanked from a personal file, a hazy bit of memory; as if one is remembering the way a landscape made him or her feel as opposed to what was actually in it. Her “Green Mountain View” is a good example of this in chalky black tonal gradations; “Green Mountain Hilltop” employs a striking use of green values to similar effect.

Treash demonstrates her love of shadow and texture in “Winter Beach,” a lith silver print. Lith silver prints were originally designed for high-contrast printing and produce images with altered tonal shifts. The black dog and his shadow are pro-nounced against the wide expanse of white (imbued with subtle pinks), and an audible crunch can be heard in the do tracks. “Woodshed,” another lith, uses the patterns of a tree and stacked wood to excellent effect, through playing their labyrinthine contours against the collected snow and one another.

Bringing out the nuance of winter’s high visual contrast could, to some, seem an obvious exercise in black and white photography. But what about in color photography? Can the aesthetic nuance in a snow-covered landscape be equally as prominent by exploring color as opposed to value?

Wayne “Nobushi” Fujii—originally from Nagano, Japan, and currently residing in Weston —thinks so. And it’s the unique passage of Vermont’s seasons that allows him to do it.

2thefirstsnow “My favorite winter pictures are of the snow falling on foliage,” Fujii explained. “The color is still bright and brilliant—an initial snow often happens in this area of Vermont during the first week of October. The snow partially hides the coloration, but the tree still brings forth its brilliance.” His “The First Snow” shows an array of deep reds and oranges flirting with a dust of white, while “November Road” shows sympathy for the resilience of the darker orange and brown tones of shedding trees against an encroaching white. Alternately, “The Valley Under Snow” uses color as an eye-anchor: a splash of deep red in a world of white, a distant farmhouse caught in a field.

A seemingly stark winter landscape can speak volumes to a trained eye. Since beauty is perceived by the eye before it reaches the heart, let us all look closely this winter. We may find an inner warmth great enough to forget the chill.