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August 17, 2012 275 notes
Summer Art Fridays: Seoul-Based Photographer Shannon Aston

We chose the the work of New Zealand-born but Seoul-based photographer Shannon Aston this week, who submitted this quiet image of an open window in the apartment he shares with his girlfriend.

The contemplative atmosphere is all about the laze of summer, but there’s a stasis to the photograph that speaks to the August doldrums we’re all currently making our way through. Soon the fall will come, with cooler weather and a breath of fresh air.

Describe the piece you submitted to Summer Fridays.

It’s the bedroom window of my small apartment. It was shot during the late afternoon in the middle of a heat wave. Outside of the photo, my girlfriend is below me to the right, lying on the bed, passed out from the heat and a long working week. I knew she was in there snoozing in the sun. When I walked into the room and saw her resting there, the window, the light streaming in, and the warm winds circling the room, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a pure summer moment!’

How does the piece relate to your memories of summer?

I grew up in a beach community in New Zealand where the sun is dangerously strong, so I’m familiar with that feeling of basking in the sun yet having to escape it. The sun’s energy takes over the house and your body, and the usually mundane home environment becomes energized by the summer light, heat, and wind. Simple things become very significant. The makeshift curtain in the shot is a sarong I purchased on a surfing trip to Sumatra a couple of years ago, so it adds a personal narrative to my summer story. The Korean-style hanook roof and tiles in the background also adds another exotic element, but in this moment, it’s far from exotic.

Describe your process.

Simple: Just be ready and be there in the moment. Don’t force it and it will come.

How did you end up making art?

I surf and travel a lot and my adventures around the globe happened side-by-side with the development of my picture-making skills. I find inspiration in nature and the city, as well as in my true love, surfing (when I can get a wave in Korea).

— Kyle Chayka
Every week of the summer, Tumblr’s Storyboard and ARTINFO will select a user to highlight from our Summer Fridays series. Check out the Summer Fridays Tumblr to submit your work.
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  It’s the bedroom window of my small apartment. It was shot during the late afternoon in the middle of a heat wave.
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August 17, 2012

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