We Folk

“Chaos Leads Our Order” is Weber’s fifth book and the third in a series of publications featuring a juxtaposition of his photographs. Marilyn Manson, Ronnie Renner, a foe, an igloo, the sun, and an explosion from the War in Iraq are among the works that make up this volume.

Christian Weber’s “Explosions” is a compelling monograph that uniquely illustrates the photographic medium’s ability to capture fleeting phenomena. The images summon the majesty and ambition of American color-field paintings while evoking the experimentation of predecessors like Eadward Muybridge. The works clearly eschew forensics in favour of picturing a world of dynamic form and beauty.

The second in a biannual series of self-published books by the artist. For this selection of work the artist juxtaposes imagery of young men and women amongst frontier landscapes, super close-ups of explosions, abstracted portraits of large animals, and more. Weber ambitiously mingles different genres of photography; portraiture, tableau, and landscape with a direct approach that belies a distinct point of view: unnerving, dire and powerful.

This collection of photographs represents a wide array of Weber’s output. The subject matter is vast but the tone and visual perception remain singularly intent. Celebrity portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and hyper-real documentary images are woven together to dramatize Weber’s open interpretation of “the subject.”

Weber’s first monographic book explores the harrowing landscapes left in the wake of California’s Corral, Latigo, and Las Flores Canyon fires of October 2007.