Faces in the Rocks
by Joel Simpson
Rooted in landscape photography, this work shifts attention away from vistas and toward a more intimate engagement with natural formations—rock, ice, and mineral surfaces—where perception itself becomes part of the process.
What emerges is a body of abstract and figurative images that seem less invented than discovered, often exceeding what the artist might consciously imagine. These images exist in a kind of double register: clearly geological, yet suggestive of figures, presences, and structures that feel oddly familiar.
While often associated with pareidolia, the work treats such perception seriously. The images are grounded in the complexity and specificity of natural surfaces, and draw on a wider range of evocable forms than the usual repertoire of faces and animals—at times recalling elements of abstraction and Surrealism.
The result is a different way of seeing the natural world: one that moves beyond spectacle and location, and invites a deeper, more exploratory, and more personal relationship with the visual richness of the landscape itself. Many people say the images in this book have transformed their way of seeing.
196 pages, 212 photos, 28,000 words of text (commentary and historical background)
LOOK INSIDE: https://online.1stflip.com/dzoq/3rnj/
What readers are saying
““Simpson’s breathtaking images—manifesting ‘psycho-geological photography’—stand as a testament to the profound imprint the earth leaves on the human mind and the power of photography to reveal such truths. It is the rocks that man has found universal forms and faces. In fact, the human psyche itself mirrors the layers and crust—from the conscious surface to its enigmatic core. To witness these photographic revelations is nothing short of groundbreaking.” ”
— ROGER BALLEN
“"Joel Simpson demonstrates that we shape and are shaped by land outside and inside. Ranging from abstraction to surrealism, through associative explorations that render the unconscious conscious, he invites us on fantastic journeys, offering us stimulating perspectives and tools designed to enrich our relationships with land/ourselves.” ”
— JOHN PAUL CAPONIGRO
““Nature, at its most non-human magnificence, is not malevolent, it is indifferent. In Joel Simpson’s view it is also a place where the human can interact with the great inhuman forces by offering imagination a playground....Simpson travels all over the earth to find the most extraordinary and bizarre geological sites, then to photograph their most complex rocks. With help from Carl Jung, André Breton, or your own dreams, you can find—at some unconscious or conscious depth—familiar déjà-vus from the history of art or the nightmares of your tribe.” ”
— ANDREI CODRESCU, novelist, poet, essayist
““Simpson claims a Surrealist pedigree to his current work that may reveal mysterious figures in rock formations, but whether they’re there or not, the work is striking.” ”
— LYLE REXER, photography historian and critic
““[Simpson’s images]...are nothing if not irresistible visual love letters to our weary planet’s enduring mysteries and its charms.” ”
— EDWARD GOMEZ, editor, brutjournal.com
“"...photos...of...haunting, striking beauty." ”
— KIRKUS REVIEW
“"Always a courageous visionary."”
— CAROLEE SCHNEEMAN (1939–2019), feminist avant-garde artist