Affinity of Form

“Some photographers take their pictures; others make them. Neither notion seems right in describing Stanford Lipsey’s work, however, for the spirit behind these pictures is one of natural discovery, something that comes before process.”
—Anthony Bannon, Director of Eastman House?

Stanford Lipsey’s passion for fine art photography began in Aspen, Colorado 30 years ago with the sight of a simple pine cone seen through a macro lens. Ever since this revelatory moment, Lipsey has dedicated himself to revealing simple truths and a visual language of the natural world hidden around us. Whether it be cloud formations in an azure sky, light ripples in shimmering water, a dense pine forest, gentle ice crystals, or austere glass architecture, Lipsey’s photographs suggest a sense of the inexplicable universal links that bond the elements and matter.

Affinity of Form, Lipsey’s first monograph, brings that vision to bear on a wide array of commonplace subjects from our everyday world. In the vein of Aaron Siskind, Lipsey’s camera fixes frequently on surfaces, abstracting them in such a way that they become visual objects unto themselves, independent of their sources and newly compelling. Other images take a longer view, allowing monumental structures, both natural and man-made, to revert to basic shapes. A newspaperman by profession, Lipsey draws on a long-honed ability to capture events at precisely the right moment—in this case, the moment when mundane objects cease to be themselves, transforming within the frame into something far more artful and mysterious. “I’m rather eclectic in what I shoot,” he says, “but all forms of nature, abstracts, and architecture inspire me to create imagery that escapes the naked eye.”

Stanford Lipsey?began his photography career as a photographer for his high school newspaper. He graduated from the University of Michigan, where he was a photographer for?The Michigan Daily?and photo editor of the university yearbook. His first professional position was as a photojournalist for theSun Newspapers?in Omaha, Nebraska. He went on to become the paper’s editor, publisher, and owner, before selling it to Warren Buffett. In 1973, Buffett, Lipsey, and Paul Williams won a Pulitzer Prize for a financial expose of Boys Town. Lipsey has been the publisher of?The Buffalo News?for the past 25 years. He has had nine exhibitions in museums and galleries, and provided the photography for the book?Forest Lawn Cemetery: Buffalo History Preserved?(Forest Lawn Heritage Foundation, 1996).