Choosing the right photograph for healthcare sometimes means rejecting another that might be perfect for an art gallery or the hospitality and corporate art markets. Here's an example of how Iris Arts decides. .
Afternoon light illuminates the upper reaches of the Chetco River.
Photo © Donald J. Rommes
A couple of summers ago, we spent some time exploring a coastal river in southern Oregon. The Chetco River is a salmon stream that originates in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in the rugged Siskiyou mountain range. During the rains of winter, the river carries a lot of silt and turns a powdery, pale blue. In summer, the shallow river runs as clear as crystal. Long, chartreuse-colored grasses wave like mermaid's hair in the current, and hundreds of newts hide in the underwater algae.
In July, we followed a logging road far up the river canyon. A bridge crossed the water at one point, giving us a good view up and down river. We made a photograph. A little further along, we could see the algae-covered river through backlit alder trees lining the riverbank. Another photograph was made.
Mossy green river and backlit alders. Photo © Donald J. Rommes
Stilll later, we left the dirt road and parked where the river was very shallow. Remnants of an old bridge showed us this had been a popular spot to ford many yers ago. We crossed the shallow, boulder-strewn river, stepping carefully over rocks, and sloshing through the knee-deep water. One hundred yards later, we reached the other side.
There, an old foot path led upriver. Following it for a mile or two through thick second-growth forest, we came to a clearing where a tributary joined the main stream. Walking to the river in the July heat, we were surprised by the brilliance of the yellow-green river bed. Looking into the water, we saw the source of the color—the long. hair-like grasses and lime-green algae under water. Dark, red-brown newts swam underwater from one patch of algae to another, up to the surface, and back down again.
The spot was magical in its warmth, its sparklingly clear water, brilliant color, and life. We photographed the scene. The composition was just water and grasses. Dozens of newts passed in front of the lens. The idea of the photograph was to try to capture the moment of unusual, brilliant color.
Crystal-clear Chetco River in summer with river grasses, algae, and newts.
Photo © Donald J. Rommes
The result was very true to the color and brilliance of the moment. The composition eliminated almost all clues of what we are looking at, but that was the intent. The photograph was meant to communicate feeling—it was not supposed to be a record of a place.
One day, three good photographs. Which, if any, should be included in the Iris Arts galleries vetted for all areas of healthcare.
After some consideration by our team, it was decided to include the straightforward one of the river from the bridge and the one of the river from the side—looking through the alders at the algae-covered water. We decided against including the more abstract photo of color and movement in the vetted galleries. Why?
The viewer for the. photos in our vetted galleries will likely include patients and healthcare workers. They are often under stress because they either have a medical issue or are taking care of someone who does. We know that people under stress have a harder time appreciating artistic subtleties. Certain qualities of fine art—like nuance, abstraction, and allegory—can be challenging to decipher. Viweing them may lead to confusion or frustration in someone under stress and/or preoccupied with other issues. Such photos simply can't be fully appreciated by anyone preoccupied with illness. l.
For that reason. simpler is often better when choosing art for healthcare. Generic scenes of nature—generally non-threatening, recognizable, and familiar—are preferred by patients over urban scenes, abstracts, or black and white images. A touch of non=threatening mystery (soft fascination) is fine—something like "what pretty scene is around that bend?" rather than "what scary thing lies ahead?"
Given our audience, the straightforward scene from the bridge works well. It is non-threatening, generally recognizable, and comforting. It's a bit boring from an artist's point of view, but that's OK.
The photograph of the river from the side is less straightforward. There are a few things hidden behind trees, but nothing is sinister. It is clearly a river and is slow-moving enough to have algae along the banks, Besides, the greens of summer speak of life. There is a tiny touch of mystery. since we can't see everything, but there is no danger in looking.
The scene of the brilliant chartreuse river is much more abstract. It could be a painting in a museum of modern art, or even a billboard in, say, Jamaica. Only the ripples and the shadows of underwater stones gives clues to the subject. The colors are intense and suggestive of bright light and energy. We love it. To us, this photo is much more successful as "art" because of its abstraction, design, color and energy and the way it communicates a feeling of lightness. But we don't think it is works for display for stressed people in the healthcare environment.
The mystery and nuance and energy that might make the photograph successful as gallery art makes it less appropriate for people who are ill and stressed. There are too few clues to what we are looking at, or where we are. It's too intense, too abstract, and has too much mystery. Maybe we'll put it with our other, more personal work, at https://www.rommesarts.com
P.S. In fact, because of our appreciation for abstraction in nature photography, and because there is an increasing demand for these sort of images by art consultants, since the posting of this blog we created a new section in the Iris Arts website. Called Corporate Art, this new section contains photographs of nature (and others) having a degree of abstraction or ambiguity.
As explained above, they may not fit our strict criteria for display in all areas of healthcare, but they should work well in healthcare's public areas as well as in the corporate and hospitality environments. Finally, a home for images like the one discussed above!
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