Holiday Edition-Paula McCartney

Wednesday greetings, collectors! Team 20x200 is leaving on a jet plane in a few short hours, putting the wintry weather of San Francisco behind us and heading back to NYC to get our own holiday celebrations underway. I'll announce one more edition tomorrow, and then it's time for me to get cracking on my own shopping. The 20x200 elves have been working around the clock for weeks now, so Santa Jen had best make a list and check it twice!

Snowfall #6 is from Minneapolis-based photographer Paula McCartney's gorgeous new series A Field Guide to Snow and Ice. Paula and I have a lot in common. We both love birds and books and count New York, San Francisco and Minneapolis among our favorite cities.

I've been talking to Paula about doing an edition with us since 20x200 was a twinkle in my eye. We initially discussed doing a print from her fabulous and witty Bird Watching series, but having the bird oeuvre well-covered as we do*, I jumped at the chance to feature an image from this new project.

I love the subtle simplicity of these images, and the pairing is just genius. I'm deeply suspicious of diptychs, often finding that the individual images fare better on their own (or worse yet, fail miserably) but Paula's pairings are perfect, enhancing the individual qualities of each frame and using the duality to support the ideas that inform the project.

The statement that accompanies her image is really terrific — she's working with some big ideas, but is funny and self-effacing in her approach. You can read it when you go buy your print but I'll repeat it here for good measure:

I moved from San Francisco to Minneapolis several years ago. After spending the first winters holed up and in denial of the fact that I now lived in what felt like an arctic tundra, I decided to brave the elements and explore the snowy landscape.
Not one to jump right into things, I began by making snowflake photograms in the safety of the summer months. Later, I ventured outdoors to capture the first snowfall of the season. The results are these snowfall diptychs: on one side, a snowflake (OK, a pressed specimen of the abundant wildflower, Queen Anne's Lace) and on the other a snowfall at night (which also nicely references the cosmos, turning the snowflake on the left into a starburst). With this series, I am interested in constantly reinterpreting natural forms with reference to multiple ideas on both a micro and macro level.

And now it's time for me to get packing and hit the road. See you tomorrow!

*Yes, that IS an understatement.

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