Howard Harris

La photographie de Howard Harris ne cherche pas à figer le monde, mais à en éprouver la mobilité intérieure. Chaque image est conçue comme un espace de perception, instable et sensible, où ce qui est vu dépend autant de la lumière, de l’angle et de la distance que de l’état du regardeur. Issu d’un parcours nourri par le design et la pensée de la forme, Harris aborde l’image comme une construction active, capable de se transformer au fil de l’expérience visuelle.

À partir d’une prise de vue unique, il déplace progressivement le réel vers des zones d’abstraction, sans jamais rompre le lien avec ce qui a été observé. Une architecture, un corps, un fragment du monde deviennent des champs de tensions chromatiques et spatiales, traversés par des rythmes et des lignes qui semblent se réorganiser dans le temps.

Son travail invite à ralentir, à regarder autrement, et à accepter que la perception ne soit ni fixe ni universelle. Regarder une œuvre de Howard Harris, c’est entrer dans un dialogue où l’image ne s’impose pas, mais se révèle peu à peu, dans une relation intime entre matière, lumière et regard.

Works presented at Vision’Art

Tortured
Atlas
Tortured
Atlas

Atlas

Sublimation sur aluminium avec superposition acrylique — 91 × 76 cm — édition 1 sur 5

2021

The works presented here offer a direct insight into Howard Harris’s practice as shown at Vision’Art. Each piece extends his research into perception, light, and the construction of the image as a sensory experience, through works produced on aluminum and enhanced with acrylic overlays.


Prices and availability upon request.

Based in: Denver, United States

Approach: Techspressionism

Mediums: constructed photography; aluminum; acrylic overlays

Howard Harris’s work is structured around a central question: how can the experience of perception itself be made visible? Rather than considering photography as a definitive recording, he approaches it as a point of departure—a preliminary trace meant to be transformed. What interests him is not only what is represented, but the way an image is mentally constructed by the viewer.


His approach is grounded in the idea that all perception is in constant flux, shaped by external parameters—light, space, bodily position—as well as by internal factors that are more difficult to define. In his works, reality is never completely abandoned: it is displaced, fragmented, sometimes pushed to its limits, in order to allow an open visual experience to emerge, one that never fully stabilizes.


From an initial source photograph, Harris engages in a prolonged process of transformation. He analyzes and isolates lines, colors, and forms, then amplifies them or shifts them toward more abstract configurations. This process does not aim for spectacle, but for tension between the constituent elements of the image. The motif becomes a pretext for a broader exploration of visual space and sensation.


Materiality plays an essential role in this research. The images are produced on aluminum and, for certain works, combined with transparent acrylic surfaces organized in layers. This stratified construction introduces a physical dimension: the work never presents itself in the same way depending on the viewing angle or the quality of ambient light. The image appears to reconfigure itself, almost to breathe, as the viewer moves.


Harris’s visual grammar relies on a precise balance between structure and fluidity. Subtle grids, networks of lines, or organized fields of color structure the space without confining it. Color is never decorative; it acts as a force, capable of creating pulsations, zones of tension, or moments of calm. Light, in turn, becomes a true material, modulating depth and intensity within the composition.


This approach gives the works an almost tactile dimension. The viewer is not invited to immediately grasp an identifiable subject, but to move through the image, to linger, and to accept its shifts. The experience unfolds gradually: what initially appears abstract may suddenly suggest a form, a movement, or a memory, before dissolving once again.


For Harris, the meaning of a work is never fixed once and for all. It emerges through the relationship between the object and the viewer. “I believe perception is unique and fluid; each person’s reaction is an integral part of the meaning of the work” (Artist). The image thus becomes a space of projection, where emotion and interpretation are as important as formal construction.


By transforming photography into a perceptual experience, Howard Harris proposes a way of looking that goes beyond the simple recognition of reality. His work invites us to consider the image as a living, unstable phenomenon—and to accept that seeing is, in itself, an act of creation.

Prices and availability upon request — please contact the gallery.

Official website: https://www.hharrisphoto.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howardharrisphotoart

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