Returning home

Many years before the camera; was invented (the modern camera that is, not it's origins with the camera obscura), one of the most moving images ever made was given life by the great Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, born in Holland on the 16th July 1606. The image is likely to have been painted not long before Rembrandt's death in 1669, and for over 300 years had entranced and moved the countless number of people who have gazed upon it. The original can be seen at Hermitage Musuem in Saint Petersburg.

The story of the Prodigal Son summarises the great promise of forgiveness, and Rembrandt's painting does justice to that promise, whether from a Christian perspective or any other.

The story of the Prodigal Son, for me at least, is not so much about a son wronging his father, but rather an analogy of humankind being estranged from the rest of creation. When I look at the picture I see the return of humankind to his home, bruised for sure (and no doubt bruising others in the process), but somehow fulfilling an imperative and irresistable call. I wonder too as I write this whether or not this element is present in all the best art, that sense of fragility or imperfection with an almost imperceptible longing for a return to the whole.

One of the advantages painting has over photography is that you have more control of how you represent what's in your mind, and one can (assuming you have the talent), draw people into the scene or exclude extraneous detail. I can fully understand the attraction of it. Some photographers do of course construct their scenes using models and sets rather than relying on Cartier Bresson's ‘moment’, and others have increasingly used composites to try and give voice to their artistic expression. For a truly excellent demonstration of the latter I would recommend having a look at Julianne Kost's (the Digital Imaging Evangelist at Adobe Systems) great tutorial on creating her composite ‘Isostacy’.

For now however let's reflect on the image that is the subject of this post.

Please   email me should you have a comment or query relating to this post.

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