“Tuscany” Sally Gall

Amanda Lugo

Professor Lucy Gans

Art 121

October 22^nd, 2020

“Tuscany” by Sally Gall

            The image is taken in a field with wild carrot herbs, and tall weeds taking up most of the composition. In the midground a body of water, possibly a lake, reflects the trees and hills in the background. A misty fog covers the body of water and provides a milky backdrop for the flowers in the foreground. It appears the viewer is laying or crouching among the weeds looking out at the countryside. The framing of the image helps reinforce the intimacy in the scene.

            I was attracted to this image because it takes place in nature, particularly a field. Throughout my life I have spent a lot of time outside, on trails surrounded by fields. Seeing wild carrot herb reminds me of a time when a family member was teaching me the story of the Queen Anne’s Lace flower, also known as wild carrot herb. They taught me the story while walking on the local trails surrounded by fields. The misty fog reminds me of my early morning walks when the weather is changing, and a dense fog covers the fields and creates an eerie atmosphere.

            This photograph was taken in Tuscany, Italy in 1993 by Sally Gall. It is titled “Tuscany” and is part of a long series of images where she attempts to capture the atmosphere and intimacy of the countryside. The photographer was born in Washington D.C. and spends most of her time between New York City, and Tuscany. Gall has “always worked in black and white photography with nature as her subject” (Cohen, 2020). She attempts to interpret nature with a romantic lens. She works on various sites, but all her work is unified by abstract form and a theme of intimacy and romanticism.  Gall chose photography as a medium because she “loves to travel, go to foreign places, and explore” admitting that photography provides an outlet where she can express her thoughts and feelings (Pope, 2013). She uses black and white photography most often because she “loves the inherent abstraction of black and white” and feels that “making an image without color is radical” (Pope, 2013). Gall’s use of black and white in her photography is intentionally designed to take the viewer slightly outside of reality.

            This photograph was a gift from Joseph Triolo, M.D. in 2014 with a set of 8 other photographs. The gift was brokered by Summit Art Advisory, a firm that works with individual clients to invest in photographs by building personal collections and then helping them to donate their collections to various institutions, often for educational purposes. Summit often buys directly from artists (Per an email with Mark Wonsidler and Stacie Brennan, 2020).

            Gall repeatedly photographs the Tuscan landscape because she finds that it’s “the most compelling, open landscape I have ever experienced… It is volcanic, undulating, and sensual. I have photographed it for years and years and still haven’t got it right” (Solondz, 2014). She has a deep connection to the landscape in this area and finds it to be one of the most “sensuous places” she has ever been (Pope, 2013). Admittedly she states that she has no idea how the photographs of Tuscany influence or relate to the rest of her work as a photographer. However, most of her landscape work revolves around the concept of capturing life and unseen activity in the area. She attempts to capture “an individuals interaction with the natural world” and hopes that her photographs “provide a space for contemplation and meditation and immerse the viewer in their own humanity and its relation to nature” (Stephens, 2011).  

Bibliography

Cohen, Joseph. “Sally Gall.” The Cohen Family Collection, 2020, www.jmcohen.com/artist/Sally_Gall/biography/.

Pope, Nessia. “Photographer Sally Gall on Her Intimate Portraits of Nature.” Artspace, 15 Jan. 2013, www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/meet_the_artist/meet_the_artist_sally_gall-5748.

Solondz, Simone. “Gall Defies Gravity.” Gall Defies Gravity | News, RISD.edu, 2014, www.risd.edu/news/stories/gall-defies-gravity/.

Stephens, Jack. “The Peripatetic Photographer.” The Peripatetic Photographer – Houston Center for Photography, 2011, hcponline.org/spot/the-peripatetic-photographer/.