Artist Talk October 18 at 2 p.m. with Bill Walterman, Peter Brown, and Darrell Hancock.

Opening reception from 3 to 5 p.m. All are welcome for no charge!

The Museum of East Texas is delighted to present Bill Walterman's "From the Air: A Different Perspective of East Texas" in our Discoveroom beginning October 10. Visitors will enjoy viewing images throughout East Texas towns along with some paired images: one a traditional drone photograph and the other taken straight down from the drone, creating an "Almost Abstract" experience of the earth. The exhibition will include 37 images from 19 different locations throughout East Texas including the following places: Anderson, the Brazos River Bridge, Coldspring, Crockett, Dam B Steinhagen Reservoir, Elkhart, Garrison, Grapeland, Glendale, Groveton, Kilgore, Lake Livingston Dam, Lovelady, Lufkin, Navasota, New Waverly, Riverside, Timpson and Trinity. Special thanks to Bill for his assistance with curating and installing this show for us!

Artist talk with Bill Walterman, Peter Brown, and Darrell Hancock at 2 p.m. on October 18

Opening Reception for the show from 3 to 5 p.m. on October 18

Artist Statement:

From the Air

A Different Perspective of East Texas

Some years ago, I came across Andrew Moore’s book “Dirt Meridian.”   Up until then I was only familiar with aerial photography shot from tens of thousands of feet in the air where the earth was represented by amorphous blobs of color.  Interesting, but not my cup of tea.  Moore, on the other hand, photographed the Great Plains from a light plane at much lower altitude, one thousand feet or so, and I was fascinated by the perspective that a much lower altitude gave the landscape.  I thought about the idea of low altitude aerial perspective for years, but an airplane was out of the question.  When drones became available, I decided to try one and now I have a camera with wings.  I’ve since been exploring East Texas with the drone.  Focusing on small towns and the landscape, I’ve found the viewpoint, perspective and detail rendered from the altitude of 100 to 300 feet adds a new dimension to my photography. 

Almost Abstract

Included in the 37 photographs presented here are 16 images that I call “almost abstract.”  Some years ago, while working on “From the Air”, I was photographing Navasota, Texas.  By chance I pointed the drone’s lens straight down at the intersection of La Salle Street and Main Street (Hwy 105) and was amazed at the geometry, pattern and graphics of what I saw.  What was still recognizable as traffic signals, lane markers, directional arrows and vehicles became, from the vantage point of 100 feet, almost abstract.  And that’s what I’ve come to call these photographs - Almost Abstract.  Encompassing just enough to allow the viewer to recognize the reality of what’s seen but from a point of view that calls a different type of image to mind.   Six of these Almost Abstracts are paired with a “From the Air” view of the subject.   Each pair includes a view of East Texas from the air and an almost abstract image looking at the subjects from directly above with the camera lens pointed straight down.  As an example, see the two photographs to the left.  

 Commenting on abstraction my friend and fellow photographer, Terri Golas, said:

“…the love of abstraction is less about escaping reality and more about transforming and reinterpreting it.  You’re not seeking to leave the world behind but rather to reframe it and blur the lines between the tangible and imagination…  It’s about finding beauty in ambiguity and seeing beyond the obvious… where the abstraction is in the seeing.”

And seeing between the tangible and imagination is what the Almost Abstract photographs are about.  

I hope you enjoy.

bill walterman