The Spirits of Stonehenge

About the Item: Artwork size: 9" x 20"
Frame size: 19 5/8" x 30 3/4"

"The Spirits of Stonehenge" is a photographic performance by Robert Kawika Sheer, signed lower right and numbered lower left 51/250. The photograph depicts Stonehenge set against a pink sky. "Spirit shadow” figures, as the artist calls them, appear on the megaliths, perhaps representing the spirits of prehistoric humans. Stonehenge was an ancient burial site rife with spiritual significance, and it appears as if Sheer’s photograph references that; it is almost as if the figures are in the stones, revealed by the light that seems to be shining from within.

Using a 4x5 camera, Sheer achieves the effects of presence and the passage of time captured in a single image by using a long single exposure lasting from forty-five minutes to seven hours. No digital manipulation or multiple exposures are used in the creation of his works. After the photographer opens the shutter of the camera, he enters the frame of the picture, becoming a performer in the scene. Because he is using low-intensity moonlight to illuminate the night, Sheer can enter the camera’s view without the negative recording his movement. As far as he knows, Sheer is the only photographer in the world performing this style of photography. Through this ghostly image, which the artist calls a “Spirit Shadow,” the photographer is a performer in the image. "The Spirits of Stonehenge" is a performative event, carefully staged for preservation in the future.