Brooks Jensen Arts


Folios

More and more, my preference for finished fine art originals involve something hand-held. Folios are collections of 5-20 loose prints, enclosed in an art paper cover — typically exploring a single theme, idea, or place. I started producing these in 1990 when I found I simply couldn't find a better medium for my artistic vision. Here is some additional background. I've also produced a LensWork Visual Workshop on how to make folios.

Below is a list of the folios I've produced and links to their individual pages, listed with the most recent folio first.

Hokusai in the Rocks

I found myself wandering the dry and dusty canyons of southern Utah, thinking about Hokusai and his famous print, The Great Wave. There it was, up on the canyon wall, that massive wave captured in ancient stone — or so it seemed to my eidetic vision. The more I stared at those ancient rock walls, the more Hokusai images I found — strange to see when one has entered the canyons to make decidedly American landscape photographs of the Desert Southwest. But, that is the power of Hokusai.

Light, Glorious Light

From the depths of space, the Sun launches its energy pulses from every millimeter of its surface, casting bits and waves of itself in an ever-growing sphere of energy. For some 8 minutes this invisible energy traverses the cold and empty regions of space until it encounters some object that makes that energy manifest — a particle of atmospheric dust, a dusty photographer’s warm skin, or the massive, silent face of an ancient, dusty wall of rock — and suddenly there is light.

Winter Trees VII

A 5-print folio in the annual series of winter tree photographs.

Worlds Within Worlds

A 10-print folio about the micro in the macro world — and our place in both.

Hikage (Shadows)

Part of the Uchiwa-e (fan) series:
A 10-print folio of interiors and the shadows found therein. Inspired by In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.

Jiin (Temples)

Part of the Uchiwa-e (fan) series:
Temples are everywhere in Japan — and never lovelier than in the fall, when the leaves are changing and the time of year gives us pause to contemplate our mortality.

Furusato (Ancestral Home)

Part of the Uchiwa-e (fan) series:
The question Where are you from? is more than just an inquiry into location. It means, where is your core self, who are you family, from whence did you arise? All of this is meant by the term furusato. This 10-print folio is from an ancestral village in rural Japan.

Shizen (Nature)

Part of the Uchiwa-e (fan) series:
A 10-print folio of unspoiled nature in the rural north of Japan known as Tohoku.

O-Take (Bamboo)

Part of the Uchiwa-e (fan) series:
The 10 prints of bamboo in this folio show a glimpse into the diversity of this most Oriental of plants.

Momiji (Maple Leaves)

Part of the Uchiwa-e (fan) series:
When Basho traveled his famous trip to the "deep north," he stopped near his journey's end in the temples of Hiraizumi. This 10-print folio is of the fall maple leaves from this historic temple complex.

Winter Trees VI

A 5-print folio in the annual series of winter tree photographs.

Winter Trees V

A 5-print folio in the annual series of winter tree photographs.

Winter Trees IV

A 5-print folio in the annual series of winter tree photographs.

Tangerine Gifts (with David Grant Best)

This folio is a unique joint project in which David and I each contribute 9 images and share a short story of a most wonderful encounter in the rural north of Japan in the quaint and picturesque coastal town of Matsushima.

Silva Lacrimosa (Tears of the Forest)

The 11 prints in this folio are from the 30-mile Canyon Fire in the Okanogan Forest of Eastern Washington.

Wakarimasen (I Don't Understand)

A 16-print folio of calligraphic-like image abstracts found in the Fort Worden artillery battery on the Olympic Penninsula.

Winter Trees III

A 5-print folio in the annual series of winter tree photographs.

October Seas

A 12-print folio made during one weekend on the Oregon Coast.

Winter Trees II

A 5-print folio in the annual series of winter tree photographs.

Winter Trees I

A 5-print folio in the annual series of winter tree photographs.

Made of Steel — Oregon

One of six folios from the Made of Steel series exploring the guys, the tools, and the shops where men work with steel and machines, oil and grease, ingenuity and sweat. This folio includes 12 prints.

Made of Steel — Washington

One of six folios from the Made of Steel series exploring the guys, the tools, and the shops where men work with steel and machines, oil and grease, ingenuity and sweat. This folio includes 12 prints.

Made of Steel — The Central States

One of six folios from the Made of Steel series exploring the guys, the tools, and the shops where men work with steel and machines, oil and grease, ingenuity and sweat. This folio includes 12 prints.

Made of Steel — North Dakota

One of six folios from the Made of Steel series exploring the guys, the tools, and the shops where men work with steel and machines, oil and grease, ingenuity and sweat. This folio includes 12 prints.

Made of Steel — Joe Sasak

One of six folios from the Made of Steel series exploring the guys, the tools, and the shops where men work with steel and machines, oil and grease, ingenuity and sweat. This folio includes 12 prints.