Sometimes an Orb is Just an Orb
Posted in: artists On: August 20, 2008 posted by: kara
Image from Carlo Van de Roer's Orbs Project
I think I'm going to date myself pretty rapidly by making a reference to Ripley's Believe It or Not, but so be it. I have been thinking of the show ever since I discovered that there is a burgenoning population of people on our planet that believe that lens flare is more than just lens flare. It is fair to say that there are many among us that believe that lens flare is/are ghosts. Yes. I'll let you be with this revelation for a moment.
Image from Carlo Van de Roer's Orbs Project
I've spent the majority of my morning clicking through pages of websites that claim that "orbs" are either ghosts/spirits, UFO's, or forms of "compassionate intelligence". Now, I am not usually quick to dismiss claims of the paranormal, but this orb obsession strikes me as being past absurd. That said, who knows. Maybe the next time a photo appears with some orbs, I'll think twice.
20x200 photographer Carlo Van de Roer surely has. He has been sufficiently fascinated with the orb so much that he is producing a body of work inspired by this subculture. Van de Roer's Orb photographs are screen printed with a single opaque circle. The artificial orbs in his photographs seem to mysteriously belong in the image, and make me think that the orb is somehow purposeful or ominous.
Image from Carlo Van de Roer's Orbs Project
Carlo's site
Carlo's 20x200 edition prints:
Untitled (Bondi Baths, Sydney, Australia) 2007
Untitled (Astoria Park, Queens, New York)
08/21/08 02:57 PM
erin said...
I am new to both 20x200 and Van de Roer's work, but ever since finding your site I must admit I am glued to my computer at precisely 1:59 PM EST every Wednesday with my fingers crossed that there will eventually be another of Carlo's beautiful photographs for sale.
In other words, I like his work a lot.