1301SW/STARKWHITE

Bill Henson

Australia

Bill Henson’s photographs explore themes of the Romantic movement such as the Sublime in contrast with intimacy found in the everyday moment. His use of chiaroscuro and a reduced palette coupled with a tendency to underexpose creates images that recall Flemish still-lifes and the works of Caravaggio. Henson, who describes his subject matter through shadow as much as through light, manages to evoke a sense of uncertainty and beauty, not only in his figure studies but also his photographs of seemingly banal landscapes.