Elements: Tuck Fauntleroy's Abstract Study of Nature's Grandeur
© Tuck Fauntleroy. Elements VI, 2017-2019. Courtesy of Tayloe Piggott Gallery.
Tuck Fauntleroy’s abstract photographs of topographical expanses of the American West strike the viewer with a compelling sense of wonder that is almost haunting in its examination of scale and perspective. These aerial shots of winter environs enlist spectators with a tantalizing dilemma of viewpoint and proportion. What came to mind immediately was Stendhal Syndrome, which is psychosomatic reaction involving an increased heart rate, shortness of breath, and general disorientation, supposedly occurring in people who find themselves faced with profound phenomenons of beauty. To view these photographs is an exhilarating experience in which the beholder’s perspective teeters precariously from a great height, causing a combination of amazement and uncertainty.
© Tuck Fauntleroy. Elements III, 2017-2019. Courtesy of Tayloe Piggott Gallery.
The viewer is gripped by a realization of his or her radical smallness against the vast scale of the world as it is presented from a bird’s eye view. The result is synesthetic, existential, and daunting. Fauntleroy’s means of obtaining these scenes of immensity is a prodigious course of action. All these digital shots are taken from the window of single engine Cessna airplane, inside which photographer communicates with pilot via a headset to direct the flight path, elevation, and angle of the plane for the perfect timed shot. These locations are severely remote regions of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park. Fauntleroy spent three years working on the series Elements, and all the photographs were taken during transitional periods of seasonal change like late autumn or early winter when regional lakes begin to freeze. Water transitions between solid and liquid forms in swift, particular intervals. Timing the circumstance of these pictures is a dextrous and sophisticated method. As Tuck says regarding his technique, “I have taken many flights that were too early or too late and therefore produced no imagery. Much of this aesthetic only exists on a few days each fall when we get extreme cold overnight for the first time. It’s a fleeting moment of seasonal change in the mountains that few will ever see, particularly from this perspective.”
© Tuck Fauntleroy. Elements VIII, 2017-2019. Courtesy of Tayloe Piggott Gallery.
© Tuck Fauntleroy. Elements IV, 2017-2019. Courtesy of Tayloe Piggott Gallery.
Fauntleroy also photographs interiors and architecture. His work addresses the structural attributes of the natural world and human dwellings alike. An observer, cartographer, and practitioner of mighty perspective, his work transcends landscape photography and enters abstraction. Fauntleroy grew up in a small waterfront town on the eastern shoreline of Maryland. His proximity to the Chesapeake Bay instilled within him a connection to waterways that remains eminent in his artistic career, which is based around utilizing the aesthetics of the natural world. “The moments that stand out to me are all about water and light – constantly changing, beautiful, hypnotizing.” Elements is on view at Tayloe Piggott Gallery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from February 7th to March 21st, 2020. All featured photographs are Archival Pigment Prints. For more information on Tuck Fauntleroy and his photography, visit his gallery profile here and his catalogue here.
© Tuck Fauntleroy. Elements, 2017-2019. Installation shots. Courtesy of the artist.
© Tuck Fauntleroy. Elements, 2017-2019. Installation shot. Courtesy of the artist.
