Inspiration sometimes comes from the unexpected places. Pop culture surprisingly is not the exception and that’s how I learned about Georgia O'Keeffe – from widely popular show Breaking Bad where main characters decided to visit her museum as an impromptu date. As you might know, the setting of the show takes place in New Mexico, the home base for the famous and recognized American woman abstraction artist. Her life and creative journey was deeply linked with Ansel Adams, another photography genius which I deeply admire. Once I had a chance to visit Santa Fe, New Mexico, I enthusiastically grabbed that opportunity to follow the Breaking Bad characters and enjoy the collection of her work in person.
O’Keeffe experimented with the objects that were simple and accessible – flowers, skulls, rocks. Innocent paintings were somehow interpreted sexually, whereas the artist responded with the unexpected peaceableness – “ Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time.” People try to recognize the object while the line between the reality and interpretation was already blurred. She broke through the wall that art needs to be recognizable and understood, she was directing the attention towards the simplicity of lines that were missed.
Back to 1920s, abstract art was still relatively novel to the American viewer who primarily admired epic landscape canvasses of Hudson River School painters and realistic portraiture. Georgia O’Keeffe had small interest to give the photographic realism into her work, she shifted towards the study of landscapes through the abstract composition.
Today photographers like Chris Burkard and Alex Strohl are recreating the nature’s abstract lines in photo composition using all modern tools like aerial drones and underwater cameras. We admire the simplicity of forms and find it fascinating to actually see the epic landscapes but in the close-up representation. Personally, I found the aesthetics of Georgia O’Keeffe and the latest landscape photography trends are very similar, and former builds a solid foundation to understand why we are so drawn to the grandeur and bold nature colors represented in the modern photography.