By Richard Turner

The practice of viewing stone appreciation and display is often collaborative. This might take the form of the collaboration between the collector and the base carver, or the collaboration of club members as they design and install annual exhibitions of stones. This display is the result of an unexpected collaboration. Tom Elias, Paul Harris, and I got together one summer afternoon earlier this year for a photography session in Tom’s studio. It had been some time since we had seen each other. We had a lot to talk about as well as new stones and displays to share. As usual, Paul and I set up the displays and Tom photographed them. As we worked, we discussed the individual stones and the various arrangements. 

Paul brought these three stones. Each one had been photographed in different arrangements, none of which seemed quite right, at least to me – and sometimes Paul and Tom as well. Nearing the end of the session, we decided to give the three stones one last try. The practice of viewing stone appreciation and display is often collaborative. We displayed the largest stone horizontally, (it had previously been photographed in a sand-filled brass container in a vertical position). The two smaller stones had been shown together in niches of a display shelf and individually on contemporary stands. As we played with positioning the two stones, we realized their vaguely figurative qualities. The stone on the right might be taken for a standing figure and the one on the left is understood as a seated one. The story might be a disciple waiting to be recognized by his/her master. Or it could be one being - human or otherwise - observing another. In any case, the unique arrangement got us thinking about displays that didn’t rely on conventional bases or sand-filled trays. This could well be the subject of our next photo session.