The Gap

Emmet Gowin, "Wasp Nest Paper Arrangement. Newtown 1972";
gelatin silver print, approx. 8" x 10"

"Of course, this is one of the really important things about art, that you can make more than you can understand at the moment the thing is being made. But the gap between what we recognize inside ourselves -- our feelings -- and our ability to trust ourselves and to trust exposing ourselves to those ideas, can be great.

"Now when I look at my students I see that the old uncertainties are still in business -- this is the real dilemma for them. Their program has been to never be wrong. You get bad grades for being wrong. So you have to be right. It's a potent conflict."

~ Emmet Gowin (b. 1941)


Emmet Gowin, "Barry & Dwayne, Danville, VA" (1970);
gelatin silver print, approx. 6.25" x 6"

Click on images to see larger versions in the Emmet Gowin Series at George Eastman House.


Emmet Gowin, "Spirit Lake, Mount St. Helens" (1981);
gelatin silver print, approx. 9.5" x 9.75"