evening sun
2019 - 2021
My first volume of Jane Kenyon’s poems was given to me around the time I was first married three decades ago. Over the years, I’ve collected more of her books and keep them out on a side table where I can leaf through them in a spare moment, when having a cup of tea. After 30 years and three homes, the spines are broken and the books are dog eared with watermarks and coffee cup rings staining the covers, but they continue to resonate. Much of what she writes about are quiet reflective moments. And with this particular poem, “Evening Sun”, I recognize the memories depicted of childhood and the importance of the natural world that I try to find in my own photographs. This collection of images includes cyanotypes toned with natural botanicals, including marjoram and passion flower, as well as gum over platinum palladium prints. I find these hand made prints in blue reflect the hazy recollections and romanticized memories of times past.
“Why does this light force me back
to my childhood? I wore a yellow summer dress
and the skirt made a perfect circle.
Turning and turning
until it flared to the limit
was irresistible...the grass and the trees,
my outstretched arms and the skirt
whirred in the ochre light
of an early June evening”
— Jane Kenyon
