Eleven
This is Dek Unu Magazine. In Esperanto, dek unu means "eleven." Eleven images from a single artist. Eleven artists in eleven solo issues in each publication year. Dek Unu publishes the work of a new artist-photographer in each issue. The artist's work and words are featured alone and in individual focus as the sole purpose for each issue of the magazine. Unlike other arts and letters magazines which might look for work from a variety of artists to support an editorial staff's theme, at Dek Unu, theme and imagery are always each artist's own.
Artists see things differently. Imagine Steiglitz looking at people boarding a steamship, Weston inspecting a bell pepper, or Uelsmann leafing through his contact sheets. Although artists and non-artists are basically the same, anatomically, artists “see” with an understanding of form, concept, and context, based on aptitude, training, and creativity, which makes vision much more than just “looking.” This month’s featured artist, Judith Rayl, using visual stimuli that, to a civilian, might be nothing but a wall of windows or rocks in a babbling brook, makes stunning, involving artworks that make the ordinary quite extraordinary.
Unless noted, all poetry and images ©Judith Rayl
Imagine an artist-photographer whose medium is light and whose subjects are water and glass, who sees the artwork-to-be in the wall of windows before tripping the shutter. Judith Rayl is that artist-photographer. These images are single-capture abstractions, made without layering, filtering, or image manipulation. Many photographers use multiple exposures, mixed media, and a smorgasbord of digital effects to create their abstract images, but Rayl demonstrates how it can be done without montage, distortion, or extensive post-processing. With closely-fitted original poetry as part of her portfolio, she weaves a story of the healing power of beauty and the power of the artist’s eye.
