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Art Review: Michigan Prints Capture Nature and Architecture
By John Carlos Cantu
Ann Arbor Press
Publication (Run) Date 8/14/2005
It's "Monte Nagler's Michigan" - but thanks to the University of Michigan Museum of Art's Works on Paper Gallery, we can visit. Take it from no less an authority than Gov. Jennifer Granholm. She describes this Farmington Hills photographer as "one of our state and national treasures" in her foreword to "Monte Nagler's Michigan" (U-M Press, 2005).
"From the skyscrapers and great public art of Detroit, to the spring tulips of Holland and the silvery rush of countless waterfalls, to the serenity of a foggy autumn sunrise and the pristine stillness of a winter woods cloaked in snow," wrote Granholm, "Monte Nagler's luminous photographs capture the majesty of the State of Michigan." The 16 gelatin silver prints in this exhibit (drawn from his book's 92 photographs) constitute Nagler's singular view of the Great Lakes state through his career as well as images specifically crafted for the book. Some of the presentation was on display last April at Domino's Farms Ave Maria Fine Arts Gallery's "20 Countries: Images of the World by MonteNagler." They certainly haven't lost any impact in the last five months.
The quality and ingenuity of Nagler's artwork is remarkably consistent. For example, his 2004 "Capitol Dome, Lansing" isn't content to merely record this handsome interior architectural facade. Instead, Nagler seizes on that precise spot where visitors invariably find themselves confronted with a touch of vertigo as the Capitol Dome emphasizes its magnificent cylindrical profusion. He also pays homage to his mentor, Ansel Adams. At that earlier Ave Maria exhibit, Nagler said, "It was during a period of intense work (with Adams) that I realized making photographs is a way to experience beauty instead of looking at it."
His 2004 receding stand of pines in "Red Pines, Empire" is evocative of Adams' penchant for capturing the exact beauty he wanted. In this memorable instance,
Nagler (like Adams) allows us to experience his view of nature, as well as what he sees through his viewfinder, in one supremely realized setting of these trees in lockset geometry. 1993's "Approaching Storm, Grand Haven (Grand Haven Lighthouse)" is the exhibit's masterwork. This superb photograph finds Nagler using the lighthouse's famed catwalk to profound use as a midground diagonal reaching into Lake Michigan. The brewing storm's cloud cover alone would make this photograph memorable, but Nagler uses this moment to craft a portrait of the shore's foreground boulders - each craggy surface telling its own story - in contrast to the maritime landmark. Studying this work is to visit Nagler's "Michigan" in one dramatic stop.
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