Artist Birthday: Brook Reynolds

Photographer Brook Reynolds considers her photographs of aspects of Nature to be Enso photography. Enso photographs are inspired by the practice of Soto Zen Buddhism and influenced by the tradition of expressing Buddhist views in art. Enso is the Japanese word for “circle”, and is a Zen symbol for the endless interconnectedness and impermanence of all life.

Artist Birthday for 25 November: Brook Reynolds (born 1971 US)

Brook Reynolds, Ultimate, from the portfolio Light, Sweet, Crude, 2008, pigment print on paper, 51 x 51 cm Courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum, © 2025 Brook Reynolds (WAM-825)

In the late 1900s and early 2000s, photography of landscape and contemporary artifacts, taken without emotional shading, have been called New Topographics. This interestingly contrasts with the non-emotional survey photographs taken by artists of the 1800s cataloguing the western territories. In both instances, the artists were shooting the image with the intention of evoking an emotional response by the viewer.

Light, Sweet, Crude is an ongoing project that Reynolds began in 2007. Technically, light sweet crude oil is an especially sought-after form of crude oil that can be used to make products like gasoline, kerosene, and high-quality diesel. Reynolds photographed abandoned gas stations primarily in the Southeast in various states of deterioration. This abandoned gas station sign subtly reveals the word "ultimate" combined with the word "fuels". Reynolds questions the "ultimate" adjective for gasoline on a sign for a derelict station that is most likely too toxic to tear down because it sits on top of leaking tanks of gasoline for the abandoned pumps.

Background

Since the mid-20th century, a broad range of experimentation in the form and style of photography has occurred. Experimentation in all types of modernism by artists after World War II (1939-1945) led artists to ignore the traditional distinctions between visual media. Photographers, like other artists, reevaluated the assumptions about photography (as opposed to “fine art” painting) in order to extend th e range of possible expression beyond pure documentary photography.

The medium not only became part of mixed-media events and assemblages, but also became an important record of non-permanent modern art. It also has continued – what from the beginning was deemed vital to early photographers – as a source of documentation of what is going on in the world, be it good or bad.

Brook Reynolds was born in Winston-Salem, NC. She received a BA (1995) in art history from Emory University, an MFA (2007) in photography from the University of Georgia, Athens. She also received K-12 teaching certification (2002) from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.

Correlation to Davis program: A Global Pursuit 2E, Unit 6.2