North Pacific Ocean, Stinson Beach 1994

Hiroshi Sugimoto created "North Pacific Ocean, Stinson Beach" using gelatin silver print. The photograph is split into two equal horizontal bars. The upper section is a lighter shade of grey than the lower section, which is almost black. The horizon where the two sections meet is slightly blurred, and the only discernible feature of the image. The composition’s rigorous geometry immediately suggests a meditation on the sublime, particularly as articulated by Kant. The near-monochrome palette reinforces the meditative quality, stripping away detail to focus on the essential elements of sea and sky. The blurred horizon destabilizes the conventional idea of a landscape, challenging our perception and creating a sense of disorientation. This stark division can be seen as a semiotic marker, a fundamental binary opposition that reflects broader cultural and philosophical concepts. The horizon thus becomes a potent signifier, a threshold between known and unknown, presence and absence. The power of the artwork lies in its capacity to prompt reflection on the fundamental structures that underpin our experience of the world.