The glossy catalogue sits on the settee at the side of me. It is elegant and expensive, luxurious looking. There is a montage of photographs on the front cover and it is entitled "The Age Of Oak" - not something that would especially interest me in the normal scheme of things but this catalogue is different.
It is full of auction lots and on the reverse of the catalogue is a photograph of an Oak chair. I flick through the catalogue and look critically at the photography within. It is flawless and beautiful in it's detail. It portrays each item of furniture in the minutest detail showing the patina on the auction lots, leading the viewer to imagine years, in some instances hundreds of years of care, wear and tear on the furniture. One can only imagine the history of the pieces - what decisions have been made around the tables, what banquets have been eaten, who has sat on the chairs, slept in the beds. It is fascinating, awesome. A piece of English heritage and history. I have not seen furniture photography like this before. The way the photographer has documented the detail and beauty of the individual items is simply breathtaking. It is artistry. He, the creator of these images is an artist.
Yet it rather poignantly reminds me of the mythical "thorn bird". The thorn bird, you see, searches for thorn trees from the day it hatches. When it finds the perfect thorn it impales itself and sings the most beautiful song until the day it dies.
I muse to myself about some of the famous artists we know from history were tormented or faced great personal trauma - Van Gogh, Beethoven, Mozart, Michael Angelo, Shakespeare, Vermeer, Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson. Maybe it is only at times of great challenge that such people produce their best and most beautiful works of art?
I am familiar with the author of these images and I know the pressure he was under as they were created. His only, precious, son was critically ill in hospital and nearly died. He was needed and needed to be besides his son's bedside but he had a deadline to meet with the auction catalogue photography. Those who commissioned him were unforgiving, ruthless and callous, showing very little empathy to his situation. He worked long hours on his commission and then travelled directly to the hospital some 100 miles away, remained by his son's bedside until the early hours of the morning when he left and travelled back to the studio. The strain he was under was colossal and yet his work is unlike any other furniture photography I seen. The furniture has been brought to life through his images, his creativity and his passion to fulfil his commission to the best of his ability. It is beautiful and it is simply exquisite.
I stand in awe at what he has created under such stress and admire his tenacity. It is hardly surprising that the lots sold for record prices - but at what cost to the creator of the beautiful imagery which brought them to life? This, of course, remains the so far unanswered question.
