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W. Stephen Cooper
Toronto, Ontario
Photography
stephen.cooper022@sympatico.ca
www.wstephencooper.com
Passage to the Great Hall
16” x 20”
Black and white photograph
2002
Artist Statement
Steve’s masterful black and white photographs are studies in the subtle play of light as it moves across the surface of deserts, mountains, canyons and wilderness areas. His images examine the textures and patterns which exist in nature, sometimes revealed in the low light of deep canyons, the coarse grain of ancient, long-dead trees, or the smooth rock on the shores of remote northern lakes.
In recent years, one area that has particularly fascinated Steve is the mystery of the Anasazi people who existed a thousand years ago in the American Southwest. At its peak, this civilization created cities and ceremonial centres in the canyons and on the mesa tops, connected by a system of roads, and serviced by a vast trade network. Artwork flourished during this period, in the form of designs on pottery, jewellery, and petroglyphs of mythical creatures etched onto canyon walls. Regional styles emerged in the architecture of cliff-dwellings as well. After only a few hundred years in the canyonlands, the Anasazi suddenly abandoned their communities. Many of the doorways were sealed shut, possessions were left inside. Did these people plan to return one day? Where did they go? We may never know for certain.
Steve chooses to portray his subjects using a medium-format Hasselblad camera and fine-grained black and white film. He then controls all stages of film processing and printing in his traditional darkroom, producing each image by hand on silver-based paper, then selenium toning each print for permanence. This process results in classic, traditional images with very fine detail and wide tonal range. Each print is then double-matted using only archival materials, and framed in limited editions of twenty-five.
Steve’s images have been published in many newspapers, magazines, scientific journals, and books. A collection of his work was published in the book, "Watermills of Ontario, Quebec, and Maritime Canada" (McGraw-Hill Ryerson Canada, 1988), which he designed and co-wrote with his wife. His photographs have been shown in many galleries in the Toronto, Canada area, and can be found in private and corporate collections internationally.
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