The Pilings, 1958 © 1958/2021 Bullock Family Photography LLC. All rights reserved

Featuring twelve gelatin prints from the late photographer, Wynn Bullock’s Naturally exhibition at the Laurence Miller Gallery is a celebration of the artist’s incredible talent. The images merge nature and the naked human form; imbued with a sense of quiet solitude, they emphasize the sublime awe of the world.

An incredibly influential and critically acclaimed photographer of the 20th century, Bullock was known for his realism, typically capturing landscapes and the nude figure. The majority of Bullock’s works are in black and white, as he found color photographic processes to be limited. Rising to fame in the 1950s, Bullock has remained incredibly popular, with his work featured in over a hundred institutions’ collections. Sadly, he passed away in 1975, his career cut short by cancer.

Rock, 1971 © 1971/2021 Bullock Family Photography LLC. All rights reserved

In the last few years of his life, Bullock sought to capture the “universal human qualities” within nature. Within Naturally, one can see several of these kinds of images – “Rock” portrays a cracked rock formation, fissures separating bright sections representing the human spirit from darker rock, chasms running through the lighter sections, as if to signify an attack. In “Woman on Dunes”, a nude woman curled in the fetal position lies in a dune, scratches in the sand above her resembling a scribble or a storm cloud, as if to imply she is upset. Bullock’s ability to portray emotions and the human spirit through nature is a testament to his skill, translating abstract concepts into concrete images.

Woman on Dunes, 1972 © 1972/2021 Bullock Family Photography LLC. All rights reserved

Lynne, Point Lobos, 1956 © 1956/2021 Bullock Family Photography LLC. All rights reserved

Although this link between human and nature became Bullock’s central concern only in the 1970s, traces of it can be found in the earlier works presented in Naturally. The alluring comfort that nature brings is an especially common motif. In “Lynne, Point Lobos”, a young girl, perhaps a toddler, stands on the beach, rocks towering over her. Though one might ordinarily be concerned about the safety of such a young child near the water, it’s hard to feel any such concern for Lynne – she appears to be right at home, the wind tousling her hair into new formations just as it has helped shape the rocks, the creases in her dress as natural as the laps of waves. Similarly, a nude woman and her dog lay on the grass in “Woman and Dog in Forest”, clothes cast to the side, trees and twigs surrounding them. The woman is totally at ease, an indication of her comfort within nature. Devoid of the societal pressures of dress, lying within nature, accompanied only by a bestial companion, the woman is allowed to simply be.

Woman and Dog in Forest, 1953 © 1953/2021 Bullock Family Photography LLC. All rights reserved

Regardless of their decade, the works in Naturally are ultimately successful because they appeal to the human spirit, featuring uncanny elements that imbue the images with a sense of otherworldliness and escapism. In “The Pilings”, fog enshrouds inexplicable stones, as though it were in a dream. The tall planks of wood in “Boy Fishing” reflect in the clear water, becoming unnaturally tall and overwhelming the titular subject. The grey skies and slick sand of “The Mast, Cannery Row” feel oddly devoid of details, the mast resembling a cross in an unexpected location. Because the elements of the photographs are so uncommon, they draw viewers in, implicating mystery and filling them with awe. The images become hypnotizingly sublime, touching the same human spirit that Bullock aimed to portray.