kotay.net - Keith - Photography - Studio - 2008 The Maze

Quote of the day: "From the smallest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from one attribute of man--the function of his reasoning mind." --Ayn Rand

In early October I was fortunate to have the opportunity to photograph The Maze: An Installation by Grant Taylor at Lebanon Valley College. The Maze is a formation of 65 white steeples arranged in a maze pattern, and also includes other architectural forms. The installation is inspired by a local corn maze--The Amazing Maize Maze and the white church steeples which are visible throughout the south-central Pennsylvania landscape. Special lighting and audio affects contribute to the experience. For more information on the maze itself, go here.

When I read about The Maze in a local newspaper I knew it would be an interesting subject for photography, and I wasn't disappointed. It was one of the most enjoyable photographic sessions I have ever experienced. I photographed The Maze for five days, continually exploring Grant Taylor's vision and attempting to add my own contributions. Great art is inspirational, and I could have spent many more days being inspired by The Maze. I owe a great deal of thanks to Grant, both for allowing me to photograph his work and also for tolerating my "experimentation" with his work of art. I am not an artist, and it is pure indulgence on my part to attempt to add anything to Grant's work--however, I could not resist trying some initial lighting affects and, eventually, every idea I could come up with to take The Maze in differrent directions.

The photos below are the product of my five days of fun in The Maze. The first set of photos are images of The Maze as it looked on display (or as seen with trivial color balance corrections, or in black and white which I consider to be a valid portrayal of the unaltered work). In the second set of images I have added my own lighting, non-trivial color balance corrections, people, light effects, and/or props. Again, my intent was only to let my imagination take me wherever it would go, not to "improve" on the original work.

Unaltered Views

The Maze I 10/1 Sony DSC-R1	The Maze II 10/1 Sony DSC-R1	The Maze I 10/2 Sony DSC-R1	The Maze II 10/2 Sony DSC-R1
The Maze I 10/3 Sony DSC-R1	The Maze II 10/3 Sony DSC-R1	The Maze I 10/4 Sony DSC-R1	The Maze II 10/4 Sony DSC-R1
The Maze I 10/5 Sony DSC-R1	The Maze II 10/5 Sony DSC-R1	The Maze III 10/5 Sony DSC-R1

My Indulgences

Patriotic Spires 10/1 Sony DSC-R1	The Apparition 10/1 Sony DSC-R1	Rank And File 10/1 Sony DSC-R1	Red Square 10/1 Sony DSC-R1
Pastel Steeples 10/2 Sony DSC-R1	No Exit 10/2 Sony DSC-R1	Intensity I 10/3 Sony DSC-R1	Intensity II 10/3 Sony DSC-R1
Coloratura 10/3 Sony DSC-R1	Runes 10/4 Sony DSC-R1	The Visitation 10/4 Sony DSC-R1 Model: Shandra Dohoney	The Easy Way Out Beckons 10/4 Sony DSC-R1
Lineage 10/4 Sony DSC-R1	The Spectre 10/5 Sony DSC-R1	Perspective 10/5 Sony DSC-R1	Running Lights 10/5 Sony DSC-R1
Contemplation Of The Infinite 10/5 Sony DSC-R1

Note: Images labeled "Virtual Painter" were created using Virtual Painter 5.