So, it seems, at least for now, that I’m the keeper of this cool work of art by the award winning fine artist Retha Ferguson. It’s about 150cm wide, 80 cm high, on a stand that makes the total work about 1.8m high. Right now it’s serving time as a room divider until its creator comes and saves it from such a dreary fate.

The work is made of wood, perspex, rope and… well… black stuff, and is translucent, so I decided to photograph it with a back light. After lots of experimentation with various light modifiers, I decided a shoot-through white umbrella gave the best looking shadows for the strings in the top image.

Here is a full view of the work.

Date: August 16, 2010
Author: Diaan Mynhardt
Medium: Digital
Camera: Canon 5D Mk II
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm 1:4
Location: 601
Designer: Retha Ferguson
Tags: absa, artwork, backlit, gerhard sekoto, retha ferguson, strobist, umbrella