Chasing Rothko is a photographic dialogue with the master of abstract expressionism. Andy Hann characterizes his reductionist photo series through the lens of slowing down, refocusing, and blocking out the persistent distractions.

 

Originating from an obsession with a singular Rothko painting, and a personal challenge to see if he could capture that look in-camera, the work evolved into a lens-based abstract series exploring nature. Mark Rothko spent decades layering oil and egg tempera on canvas to evoke visceral human emotion. This series tries to do same, just with significantly less turpentine, and labor. While the master built his legendary rectangles through meticulous brushwork, Hann experiments with long exposures, soft focus, and intentional camera movement to hunt for those iconic, stacked color fields out in the world. By stripping landscapes down to their bare configurations, these images transform mundane vistas into glowing, floating planes of light.

 

But let’s be honest: photography is a stubborn medium firmly rooted in reality. Because of this, these images are not quite as pure minimalist as Rothko’s masterpieces. (Or as groundbreaking). Try as we might to scrub away the details, they still retain subtle textures, and organic gradients. Yet, that tension is where the magic happens. The work provokes a yearning for wanderlust and the human quest for what lies just beyond the horizon. 

 

Ultimately, Hann aspires for these studies to be appreciated on a large scale, one piece at a time, encouraging viewers to step back, slow their heart rates, and engage with them in a deliberate and contemplative manner.

 

Printed on Premium Archival Matte, heavy weight (230 gsm) paper, at 300dpi / 16bit, with a Canon Lucia EX 12-color pigmented ink set.

44" x 62" (which includes a 3" white border)

All images captured in-camera with color grading in Adobe RAW.

No AI or Photoshop was used.