Steve Armstrong, untitled (Filter), low resolution JPEG of a natural light, unmanipulated iPhone photograph (HEIC), 2024.
Coming of age in the 1970s, during the dying rigours of Modernism, I found the idea of composition to be a guilty pleasure. Elements needed to be placed of course, but I didn’t measure things: I eyeballed with some chagrin, and a lot of secret satisfaction. I was convinced that “Homemade Minimalism”* was the way to go. Now I compose things without guilt. Freedom is no secrets, and beauty is spontaneous.