Terri Weifenbach – Cloud Physics

Review by Douglas Stockdale ·

Everything on our planet to one extent or another depends on water, whether its form is fog, rain, mist, ice, snow, or for many individuals, a much-needed beverage to consume. Otherwise, the Earth would resemble our Moon and the distant planets, devoid of any living things. Clouds essentially provide the environmental infrastructure that enables the movement of water from place to place, and indirectly the subject of Terri Weifenbach’s photobook Cloud Physics.

Science is a wonderful subtext in her cloud narrative, which provides our technical ability for how we define the weather conditions that include the various forms of moisture that gather and move across our continents. As elegantly stated in Luce Lebart’s afterword, from the earliest times understanding weather conditions has been essential to those who work the land or traverse the seas.

The environmental conditions vary with the seasons and its understanding is critical as to when to the plant the crops or set out from the harbor. Over a long period of time, we have transitioned from word-of-mouth about the looming weather conditions to our current exacting scientific instruments which can accurately capture the environmental pulse. Who has not looked up a 15-day weather forecast to determine what to bring for a distant holiday trip?

This same science is also alerting us to the changing environmental conditions. The various weather tracking instruments that Weifenbach has made ‘portraits’ of are now collecting the data that informs us of the weather changes and trends. That data, scientific facts, when graphically displayed, provides abstract shapes, lines, and forms that also includes a secret code, which requires well-informed individuals to translate for us. It’s then up to us to listen and pay attention to what we are being informed.

Her beautiful subjects are extremely varied as is the non sequitur image sequencing. The non-linear flow of photographs of nature and mankind influenced landscapes depict the direct or indirect dependence on the need for water. Capturing the various phases of moisture that are essential for the existence of grass, trees and vegetation, the nourishment of animals and insects or pools of water for enjoyment and relaxation.

There are also profound mysteries related to moisture and water, we frequently can not see moisture unless it accumulates enough to form a cloud or condense to become a drop of water. Once consumed, we are unable to see its actual effects and yet indirectly we know of its presence. It is present in almost everything we do or are, an essential element of life and of little wonder why we try to control every aspect of it. This is also an aspect of the kaleidoscope of photographs in her book, the omni-presence and mystery of water that defies a finite description.

These life-compositions are intertwined with the portraits of scientific instrument and a sample of the technical information that these objects speak. As a working scientist and visual artist, I find the juxtaposition of these two radically different subjects fascinating in how these complement each other. Both of these, the natural world and science, co-exist and we really cannot cherish or understand one without the other. It would be a mistake to do otherwise.

This solid photobook is beautifully printed with the saturated and vibrant colors befitting her various subjects, while my singular gripe for a tight binding are photographs that span the two-page spread with some visual content becoming lost in the middle gutter.

Essentially this delightful book is a mash-up celebration of life (célébrations de la vie!) and all things living, which are dependent upon water in its many forms. Even on occasion, a cloud will slyly creep into her compostions.
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Douglas Stockdale is a visual book artist and the Senior Editor and Founder of PhotoBook Journal

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Cloud Physics, Terri Weifenbach

Photographer: Terri Weifenbach, born New York City and residing Paris, France

Essay: Luce Lebart

Text: English

Hardcover book, litho printing, 216 pages, Data Index, printed by Printer Trento (Italy), ISBN 978-0-9992655-8-1

Photobook Designer: Terri Weifenbach and Coline Aguettaz

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