Receiving
considerable acclaim in New York City recently for his fine art photography is
Max Victor Alper, a former faculty member and administrator at NYU. He has
created an evocative and impressive series, “Transcendent Journeys,” that
portrays human figures passing through portals such as corridors, windows,
streets, or tunnels. To represent the journey from the physical to the
spiritual, Alper has created metaphoric settings that represent the material,
intellectual, and emotional boundaries that an individual must transcend on the
path to freedom and spirituality. Several reviewers have commented that this
visual, symbolic narrative vaguely echoes concepts in Dante’s The Divine
Comedy.
The
series of twenty photographs begins with “Shades of Red” and “Dancer in Red
Square.” Both are compelling images that portray shadowy or blurred figures
against intense, defined color fields. They suggest the desire to escape an
inferno-like confinement, ablaze with red tonalities. The image, “The Search,”
initiates the quest for release from the realm of shadows and temporality. In
“Corridor Games,” “Desire,” and “Night Quest,” the figures confront earthly
(sometimes self-imposed) challenges and distractions. The contour of a man in
“Night Quest” seems lost, bewildered (perhaps searching for some destructive
pleasure) in the mysterious, blue city street that has no exit. The final
photographs of the series—entitled “Magic Entrance,” “The Awakening,” and “Into
the Light”—depict passage out of claustrophobic environments into the openness
of brilliant light. “Into the Light” shows a woman in a flowing white robe
emerging from a dark tunnel. These are visual statements about freedom and
revelation.
Although
Alper’s photographs (Cââ¬âPrints) are grounded in realism, clarity of form
is reduced into a haze of light and color, or deliberately defocused and
blurred. Colors are often muted, imbuing the scene with a sense of mystery. The
impact is a contemporary, edgy quality that would intrigue any viewer. Alper’s
extraordinary compositional skill—the geometric patterns, controlled
distortion, and tonal gradation—enhance further the profound emotional impact.
To achieve the desired visual effects, Alper uses a number of techniques:
filters of various densities, delayed exposures, and unusual lighting. Urban
structures and special backdrops also add to the dramatic ambiguity of these
transcendent visions.
Max
Victor Alper received his Ph.D. from New York University, where he later served
as a faculty member and arts administrator. He has published two books
(Macmillan), and has written art reviews for Arts Magazine
style=’font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana’> and The New Republic.
style=’font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana’>His work has been exhibited in
numerous galleries throughout the U.S. and in New York City.
With
this series, “Transcendent Journeys,” Max Victor Alper has established himself
as a consummate photographer. He has been hailed as a master of technique and a
true visionary. |
