Artist's Statement

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=87 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="24e007f0dduajq.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC99" FACE="Arial" ><B>Mirrorscapes: The Ira M. Lapidus Gallery</B></FONT>    |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mirrorscapes: The Ira M. Lapidus Gallery"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mirrorscapes: The Ira M. Lapidus Gallery"><U><B>Mirrorscapes: The Ira M. Lapidus Gallery</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=185 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mannequin Galleries"><U>Mannequin Galleries</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cityscapes Gallery"><U>Cityscapes Gallery</U></A></div> <div> <B>Artist's Statement</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to Order"><U>How to Order</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=393 BGCOLOR="#FFCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Artist's Statement</div> <div> <B>About these Pictures:</B></div> <bR> <div> These are pictures of reflections in city environments. They are taken in store windows, street mirrors and the windshields and rear panels of automobiles.  They may look like digital images, but they are not products of computer or darkroom manipulation. They are found, not made. Each picture is taken in one exposure, and each is printed from a single negative. </div> <bR> <div> This is a way of seeing in which I merge objects and reflections -- mannequins, buildings, cars, streets, people, trees, clouds and sky -- into a seamless image, but an image that exists nowhere in reality. The boundaries between inside and outside, between real and unreal have disappeared. This is a world seen for an instant on windowpanes, and then only on film. </div> <bR> <div> I am fascinated by reflections because they reveal an unexpected and surreal landscape that is always before our eyes, yet rarely seen. Moving through this universe, we make it invisibile, even though it surrounds us on every stroll and errand. Much of the time we are just blocking out distractions, but often we miss scenes of great beauty, humor, strangeness, or compelling revelation.</div> <bR> <div> Reflections give me a feeling of closeness to the environment. Looking at a scene, I am aware of observing it and making an image in my mind. But when I look at reflections, I feel that I am directly seeing my mind's own images, as if I have myself blended into the world outside. </div> <bR> <div> These photos are taken in  New York, London, Paris, Rome, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami Beach.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Bio</div> <bR> <div> Ira M. Lapidus is a fine art photographer whose work has been exhibited, published and collected by art lovers. </div> <bR> <div> He has been exhibited at the A.C.C.I. Gallery in Berkeley, CA, and the Club at the Claremont in Oakland, CA, and at the Fetterly Gallery in Vallejo, CA. His work has been published in Photo Metro, Women's Studies, Fiction International, and the San Francisco Chronicle. His photos are held in numerous private collections.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>