The lamp 2015

Alfred Freddy Krupa made "The Lamp" with what looks like a camera lens pointed straight up. The lamp becomes a stark, almost confrontational presence against the sky. What grabs me here is the surface of the sky itself. It's like a Rothko painting turned monochrome. The way Krupa captures the different textures, the play of light and shadow, makes you want to reach out and touch it. There's a sensitivity to the tonal gradations in this image, like a slow, meditative watercolor wash. Then you notice the cloud, small, soft and fleeting. There's something about the way Krupa frames this shot that reminds me of some of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s seascapes, a similar sense of stillness and contemplation. Like so much great art, the photo embraces ambiguity. Is it about the mundane or the sublime? Maybe it’s about the intersection of both.