The collaborative work of two photographers, Chris Blake and Brian Shriver, is presented in ‘A Room with Some Views,’ panoramic images of the Narragansett Bay area. Their aerial photography specializes in south coastal Massachusetts and Rhode Island architecture and landscapes. Their collection of photos of the Narrows Gallery, performance space and artist studios can be seen here: Narrows’ Panoramas The work will be on exhibition in the Narrows Caf?? Gallery April 20 – June 16, 2010.
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 25th 2:00 ‘ 5:00 pm
Chris Blake | Artist Statement
‘How did you get into that?’ That’s the question I get from people viewing my website or one of my prints. If it’s a ‘little planet view’ they are often tipping their head or in some cases shaking it. I guess you could say there are two elements that draw me to this kind of photography. One would be getting high and the other would be looking around with a wide angle view.
I’m not sure where the getting high thing started. Perhaps it was my dad putting me on a booster seat in his Piper Comanche and letting me do the elevator and ailerons while he did the rudder. I couldn’t reach. Perhaps it’s a 60s thing. I won’t go into that too much. It’s a blur anyway. Getting up high has not always worked out for me. From falling out of the top bunk in Indian Guides to tumbling backwards out of a willow tree from 40′ at the age of 10 to a botched hang gliding launch at the age of 38, I have certainly taken my lumps. I suspect my wife and mother think this accounts for the ‘little planet views’. Oh well, you can’t please everyone. At least they tolerate me. I guess that’s not always easy. In spite of all this I must say I have enjoyed the sensation and the view some altitude provides, from late afternoon flights with an Eagle just off my glider’s wingtip, to sunsets perched in a cave on the side of a cliff. I suppose I’m getting stodgy because I get my views from a remote control camera mount on a tethered blimp or a 45′ pole with a robot named Ansel on top but somehow I still manage to get my fix.
The wide angle view thing I think stems from my ‘day job’ doing computer aided design. I’m always rotating 3D models and zooming in and out so when I saw my first interactive panorama on the web I was hooked quickly. I also think It just goes with getting high. You climb the cliff to get the wide angle view. I’ve heard a spherical panorama described as ‘all that can be seen from a point’. I like to think of ‘little planet views’ and ‘tunnel views’ as all that can be seen from a point seen all at once. I hope you all ‘enjoy the view.’ More of my work can be seen at aerialvr.com or at Chris Blake
Brian Shriver | Artist Statement
The world spins and the sun and moon move through their precisely appointed arcs in the sky spilling light down upon the surface of our blue planet. Sometimes when I arrive at ‘just the right spot’ with ‘just the right light’ and aim my camera in ‘just the right direction’ I feel like I’m celebrating the workings of our immense celestial mechanism and the beauty of our blue planet as it spins through space. With my panoramas, I’m trying to provide the viewer a soothing moment of reverence for God and Man’s handiwork.
We’re living in interesting times when the technology to do this is better than it has ever been. I work with extremely high resolutions which make it possible to step back and appreciate the beauty and composition of the whole but to also move forwards and zoom in in order to enjoy the details. I use a digital camera to shoot an array of overlapping images that I assemble together on my computer. I display the images on the web at socopano.com using Zoomify technology which makes them fun to browse.
