Will Govus

Will Govus has it. "It" being the eagle eye for scenes that create photographs that carry with them a Benjaminian aura of epic proportions. Maybe my use of the word "aura" as described for us by Walter Benjamin, is a bit of an oxymoron in this case, considering that Benjamin's idea of the aura hinged on the notion of the one-of-a-kind work of art, and I'm looking at the images on the internet, but in our post-Google age, I think the idea of the aura has morphed into another monster, the notion of which we have yet to pin down (maybe this is something for our 21st century art theorists to tackle?????). 

If there is a 21st century aura for the photo-hungry to imbibe, it is to be thoroughly enjoyed in Govus' haunting color photographs. His images are not as elaborate or as carefully orchestrated as those of Gregory Crewdson, nor do they project such seediness as Brassai's Parisian Alley ways, but Govus's images are equally thought-provoking, with a similar sense of mystery and otherworldliness. They lure us into a world in which we are able to quickly identify the seemingly obvious similarities between an abandoned chair and a fog-encased teenage boy.

  See more of Govus's work on his website here, or on his blog here or on his Flickr site here.