Arcanum

Contents 

Foreword, by Martin Duffy

Aspectu — To glimpse a sight beyond the known

To Enter the Hall of Two Truths — Embracing the psychopomp

Philosophicus — Concept as image

Icons of Nature — The embodiments of Elphame

Praxis — Methods unto the arte

Emanations — Creation descending

Spiritu — Those who stand before us

Masks of Misrule — A light upon the faceless

Crwca — To walk upon the crooked path

Odyssey of the Compass — The transfiguring landscape

Description

Arcanum serves as a photographic exploration of its namesake, a journey into the other through the vision of another. In a world shaped by textual forms, Arcanum aims to delineate expectations and to open a window into a more fluid and dynamic world where interpretation is truly left to the beholder.

“Everything from colour, form, concept, and action must be allowed to unfold, to manifest in the way it wants to present itself to you. Exposure to the multitude of occult streams that have revealed themselves can make this act more difficult as these influences promote specific ideas, images, colours, and forms that apply to the work they do, much like language.” —Daniel Yates

This work aims to challenge the accepted norms of how the occult is perceived and rendered in image. By passing light through the forge of the lens, Daniel Yates teases out from the shadows a world that lies hidden in plain sight, exposing concepts that are often elusive and intangible, yet ever present. Each image in this work is a window into a much deeper stratum of awareness and understanding; the contemplation of the image over time will reveal to the onlooker an arcanum that is purely their own.

“Through such contemplation the images observed become transformed, and whilst each viewing yields new insight, others remain yet hidden – so it is that the living image remains forever familiar yet unfamiliar, known but unknown, worldly yet ‘other’.” —Martin Duffy