Todd Hido: The End Sends Advance Warning
© Todd Hido, 12008-7134, 2020. Archival pigment print. 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm).
Written by Madeline Lerner
Photo Edited by Lyz Rider
For decades, Todd Hido has been masterfully capturing dreamlike, haunting American landscapes that resonate deeply with a vast fanbase. In his new exhibit “The End Sends Advance Warning” at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in Manhattan, he maintains his trademark style but expands to new international landscapes, subjects, and techniques. Through a collection of poetic images featuring endless roads, muted sunsets and dim headlights, he explores the process of identifying small beauties in otherwise dismal environments. This collection only further proves that he is one of the greatest contemporary photographers of our time.
© Todd Hido, 12057-126-10, 2020. Archival pigment print. 30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm).
Some images in this exhibit are light-filled and reminiscent of Edward Hopper — others are dreary, cold, wet portraits of outdoor landscapes. Many were taken through a car window, eliciting a sense of detachment as the glass separates Hido’s camera from the scene. In a way, the roadside nature of these photographs adds a touch of nostalgia — foggy detachment seems like a retrospective look at a particular memory.
© Todd Hido, 11805-5737, 2020. Archival pigment print. 59 1/2 x 88 1/2 in. (151.1 x 224.8 cm).
© Todd Hido, 11851-3642, 2020. Archival pigment print. 38 x 57 in. (96.5 x 144.8 cm).
Beads of water and mist clinging to the lens or car window spawn small glares that amplify light or shroud clarity, transforming scenes seemingly into paintings. Overall lighting is never harsh, ranging from a soft glow or flash used to enhance the subject, to uniformly dim light, cloaked by clouds or night. Light also plays its own character in his photographs, as small gleams of sunset through trees or the faint glow of headlights on a dark, rural road. As if choreographed by nature itself, Hido’s images are seamlessly constructed scenes, masterfully composing light, water, color, and reflection into brilliantly cinematic landscapes. The ease with which it seems to take him exhibits Hido’s masterful abilities to seek out brilliance in otherwise mundane rural and urban landscapes.
© Todd Hido, 11685-2448, 2020. Archival pigment print. 38 x 51 in. (96.5 x 129.5 cm).
Constant in this series is his search for beauty in ordinary environments. In one image, through dark trees we see the sun lying low, emerging from the snowy horizon through wispy clouds. The long shadows and refractions of light through water on the lens signify a defrosting in the cold, bleak woods, reminding the viewer of the constant change in this universe — from winter to spring, night to day. In another photograph, Hido captures a blonde young woman, posing for the camera draped in yellow light as a soft wind sweeps her hair and the beach grass behind her. It feels like a memory of someone we once intimately knew.
© Todd Hido, 11256-e, 2020. Archival pigment print. 30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm).
Hido is undeniably a master of his craft. “The End Sends Advance Warning” brings us a collection of work which locates and admires the small beauties in bleak landscapes. In a time that seems endlessly disheartening, Hido provides us with a new lens to find hope. “The End Sends Advance Warning” is a must-see, and is on display at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery through January 13, 2024.
