Drift #13: Redondo Beach 2005

David Burdeny created this dreamy photograph, a study in blue, at Redondo Beach. The image drifts between the familiar and the abstract. A horizon line divides sea from sky but both are blurred into soft bands of color. I imagine Burdeny patiently waiting, composing the scene, allowing the camera’s eye to absorb and distill this coastal vista. There’s a stillness, a silence, that pervades the work. The blues feel cool, yet also expansive, evoking a sense of calm and introspection. Looking at this, I’m reminded of the color field paintings of Agnes Martin, another artist who found the sublime in simplicity. Both artists share an interest in stripping away the superfluous, leaving only the essential elements of color, light, and line. In their work, we find a space for contemplation, a place to pause and reflect on the nature of perception itself.