Caining Gu_Photography Book_Ambiguity

Ambiguity

by Caining Gu

To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. . . I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.

--- Elliott Erwitt (Documentary photographer)

Ambiguity was born as an experiment of framing “ordinary places” that

I noticed during my travel in Italy. One of the interesting facts about photography is its’ restriction. Only the scene that the photographer selected is shown to the viewer. Instead of presenting as much visual information as possible, I choose to minimize. In this series, I ask my audience to wonder about where the place is, how the light works, what the angle is, etc. Most of those questions are open to more than one interpretation. Following this process, in the end, I hope my audience can forget about understanding the context but focus on the subject matter itself and appreciate the pure beauty of it.

I consider this a universal beauty that I have captured. Also, I have tried to combine two “ambiguous photos” and showing how that ambiguity creates a new certainty.

(Front Page) Part of a helical staircase in Barberini palace, designed by Francesco Borromini (right)A moment of an exhibition

(left) A window pannel inside Castelvecchio Museum, designed by Carlo Scarpa (right)A half open window from a church

Former pages (left)A building under construction in Rome (right) A light source in a Church Right page (left) Somewhere in Verona, near the Juliet house (right)Inside the Barberini Museum in Rome

Former pages (left)A moment in Rome (right) Shadows reflected on a tower in Verona Left page (left) A window in Castelvecchio Museum, designed by Carlo Scarpa A woman site under it (right) A hallway under Palazzo Ducale di Urbino

Former pages (left)A bird view moment, the women inside it is the urban design professor (right) Reflection moment Right page (left) A heater in the University of Urbino (right)A hallway in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche

Former pages Brion Cemetery designed by Carlo Scarpa (left)Peeping from a small gap on the wall (right)A skylight Left page (left) A hallway leading to the backyard of Palazzo Ducale di Urbino (right) A steep stair inside the Castelvecchio Museum, designed by Carlo Scarpa

Traudy Pelzel, Francesco Magnani Vatican Chapels

Š Caining Gu 2020. All rights reserved.