Chip Hooper (1962-2016) might be mistaken for a Pictorialist; his pictures of large bodies of water are noted for their soft focus and atmospherics. But the function of those elements is not so much sentimentalism or nostalgia as a nature-centered mysticism. In this, he is like Wynn Bullock, Minor White and, for that matter, the 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School. Mr. Hooper was born in Chicago, and when he began photographing at an early age Lake Michigan was his subject. He subsequently took pictures of many of the world’s oceans using an 8-by-10-inch view camera; the large negative captures a lot of detail, like the little ripples before and after the “Single Wave, Pacific Ocean” (2010), as well as subtle modulations of tone at the distant horizon.
To continue reading, click here.
By William Meyers | June 10, 2016