Eric Hansen Response

I found these photographs difficult to look at from the start. I have nothing against the images, but looking at them on a website is a challenge. I'm sure Hansen didn't intend for them to be viewed together as thumbnails/ individually as 4x6 images, but I kept wanting to see them enlarged and hanging together on a gallery wall. Anyway, from the start there is a very whimsical feel to the images, which I still don't know if I like. He is quite successful in portraying fictional, even sci-fi-like, scenes through his use of lighting, staging, and framing (and digital media I'm sure). Without being able to speak directly to the artist to get answers, many questions linger with me about both the subject matter and the message Hansen is trying to send. The scenes appear to be made up of everyday objects like flowers, rocks, and sand, but are composed in a way that looks like a vast landscape (hence the titles?). That composition in itself is deceiving and is essentially a lie. The photographer is staging the frame and tricking the viewer into believing that the scene is much larger than it actually is, which seems to also over exaggerate and emphasize the importance of the images, together and separately. The last thing I want to comment on is his choice to work in black and white rather than with color. Like I mentioned earlier, I am assuming that this is digital. I would read into this as being Hansen's way to maybe dispel his audience's questions about digital/computer manipulation. If people thought that this was taken with film, they may buy more into the truthfulness of the photographs.