North Atlantic Ocean, Cliffs of Moher I 1989

Editor: This is Hiroshi Sugimoto’s "North Atlantic Ocean, Cliffs of Moher I," a gelatin-silver print from 1989. It's quite a study in monochrome; I'm struck by how serene yet immense it feels. What do you see in this piece, beyond the simple horizon? Curator: I see the primal division, the binary of being. Water, the unconscious, the source; and sky, the realm of thought, the ideal. This image resonates deeply because it taps into a universal, almost Jungian archetype. Do you sense the emotional weight Sugimoto evokes with this simple composition? Editor: I do, but it's more complex than I initially thought. The tones blend so subtly. It reminds me of Caspar David Friedrich, yet feels incredibly modern at the same time. Curator: Precisely. Sugimoto understands the power of established symbols and visual structures. The horizon, that meeting point, is where the symbolic interplay occurs, representing the self in relation to the immensity of existence. Think about how often the sea represents memory, a vast, unfathomable depth. What do the Cliffs of Moher bring to mind for you, culturally speaking? Editor: They evoke a sense of timelessness and raw nature, I suppose, the edge of the world, almost. Is Sugimoto trying to capture that timelessness? Curator: In a way, yes. He uses the primal image of the sea and sky to trigger recognition of something ancient within us. The photograph becomes a mirror reflecting not just the external world, but our internal landscape. We're not just seeing a photograph; we're engaging with the deep-seated symbolism of existence. Editor: So, by stripping away the specifics, he amplifies the underlying symbolic power? Curator: Exactly. The reduction enhances the symbolic presence. This image speaks to something essential in the human experience, the meeting of tangible and intangible. Editor: That’s a totally different perspective from what I first observed. It seems I should pay more attention to symbols as carriers of meaning and cultural memory.