In LUMINATIONS, made by Michael Becotte between 1973 and 1976, the artist took his strobe light into nature, zapping branches, vines and leaves into mysterious scenes that feel more science fiction than documentation. These sensuously toned prints offer a view of nature unseen by the naked eye, including the ghost of the photographer himself.
Michael Becotte, born in 1945, recently retired as head of the prestigious Photography Department at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. His personal photography began in the 1960’s with classical large format landscapes, but by the 1970’s he became fascinated, as did many in his generation, with ways to extend the camera’s vision beyond documentation. He received two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, and his prints are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, NYC; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House; Seattle Art Museum; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; National Gallery of Canada; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; and the National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C. Luminations represents his first one-man show at Laurence Miller Gallery.
