"Birdlime and Surf, Point Lobos, California"

gelatin silver print mounted on cardboard

signed (pencil) on recto; titled and dated (pencil) on mount recto

A picture that puts our perception to the test. Is the foreground fish spawn heading for the sea or is it simply bird droppings as described in the title? The disproportionate size of the close-up foreground in relation to the surf behind it is a further source of irritation.
(Fritz Simak)

Birdlime and Surf was taken in Point Lobos, a coastal area in California - an area that was also frequently photographed by Edward Weston, one of White's mentors. The title of the work suggests a visual or metaphorical connection between the sticky bird droppings (birdlime) on the rocks and the dynamic surf in the background. A symbol of the power of nature and, in a more poetic interpretation, of holding on and letting go. The work is part of the Jupiter Portfolio, a collection of twelve works published in 1975 that reflects White's profound interest in the abstract and spiritual dimensions of photography. It shows White's particularly characteristic style, in which textures, forms and light become a symbolic language.
Minor White believed that an image could correspond to an emotional and inner state - in reference to Alfred Stieglitz's series Equivalents (1925–1934). In 1963, White wrote in a text about it as “probably the most mature idea ever realized in imaging photography. ”1 According to this, a photograph can be experienced on three levels: the image itself, the viewer's thoughts and the experience of remembering the image later. Minor White was known for his metaphorical and spiritual approach to photography, inspired by Eastern philosophy, especially Zen Buddhism and above all the analytical psychology of C. G. Jung.2
(Christoph Fuchs, translated by deepL)

1
Minor White, “Equivalence: The Perennial Trend”, PSA Journal, Vol 29, No 7, 1963, pp. 17–21, available online: https://www.jnevins.com/whitereading.htm (retrieved 23.3.2025)

2
Peter C. Bunnell, Minor White, the eye that shapes, New York 1989, p. 21, available online: https://assets.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2130_300062906.pdf (retrieved 23.3.2025)