Unveiling the Spectrum: Eric Meola Discusses His Captivating Book “Bending Light: The Moods of Color”

For the past twenty-five years, American photographer Eric Meola has resided in Sagaponack. Prior to that, he operated out of West Village, and the globe was truly his studio. Frequently transporting both his gear and himself to capture a Time magazine cover image or simply driving uptown for a shoot with Paul and Linda McCartney at the Pierre Hotel in NYC, along with a Bruce Springsteen album cover, he has immersed himself in the moment. Eric Meola has maintained his focus on the lens of transformation. He has chronicled numerous decades from the 1960s up to the current era, employing both analog and digital photography.

He has recently finalized another book showcasing his artistry titled “Bending Light: The Moods of Color” (available on Amazon). In an extensive interview with Hamptons.com, Mr. Meola remarked, “When capturing a striking landscape or what you might label a skyscape, I believe the error that most individuals commit is that when they perceive something before them, they may instantly take a photograph. I prefer to revisit a scene multiple times. It’s essential to observe the light. You must understand that what you witness changes throughout the day, influenced by the time of year and the passage of time during the day. What initially draws your attention might be quite remarkable, and you might be right to photograph it at that moment, yet often, I will return to a scene repeatedly.”

He conveyed that as he was aging, it became essential to systematize his work. He stated, “You forget what you’ve captured. You lack organization. You’re so occupied moving from one assignment to another or one personal project to the next that ultimately you realize you might want to view your work as a cohesive whole.”

He has always aspired to create a retrospective. The capacity to digitize images compelled him to initiate that process and to examine his work in its entirety. Whether it was portraits, landscapes, or essentially the various genres of work, he collaborated with a renowned art director named Greg Wakabayashi. Mr. Meola expressed, “Greg and I have partnered on numerous projects, and he’s remarkable, so we convened with four or five hundred of my pictures that I had gathered, and we initiated the editing process (for Bending Light) from there. Throughout a lifetime, numerous individuals influence you during different phases of your artistic journey and so forth.”

Who are his inspirations? Eric Meola stated, “I will begin from the end. Mark Rothko, the painter, and Wassily Kandinsky, the painter, have significantly influenced me. I admire abstract art, and in terms of photography,  Ernst Haas and Pete Turner have also been substantial inspirations. Those individuals have had the most impact on me. I have consistently been fascinated by the force of weather and storms. The book centers on color and light, and what I take the most pride in is the excellence of the reproduction.

During the conversation, Mr. Meola mentioned that it is quite challenging to reproduce colors accurately, particularly when the hues are nuanced. He expressed his desire for it “to be understated, and when it is not so understated, to be pronounced.” Achieving the precise colors is quite tough since color prints differ from what one perceives with their eyes. The book, “Bending Light: The Moods of Color,” was printed in Italy, and Meola believes the reproductions are “outstanding.” He added, “For anyone interested in photography, it serves as a wonderful gift because it encompasses various aspects of photography, from landscapes to portraiture to abstracts and nature. An additional component of the book is not just the photographs. It’s the narratives. Each photograph carries a narrative. The narratives are not based on technical execution but rather on the reflections I had before, during, and after capturing the image.” About one-third of the visuals in the book were taken using film, and two-thirds were digital.

With regard to what lies ahead, Eric Meola stated, “So much has evolved with photography concerning the shift fromfilm to digital utilizing Photoshop. Personally, I hold a favorable view of artificial intelligence. I understand that photographers are justifiably concerned about its potential to generate numerous images that lack authenticity, as photography is perceived as a form of art deeply rooted in truth and reality. I envision artificial intelligence being employed to produce visuals that we can’t even conceptualize at this moment. I believe it can be applied in very constructive manners to create varieties of images that are dreamlike and artistic, featuring subjects that we can’t even foresee. I am convinced we could ultimately come to accept it in the near future.

Eric Meola has contributed to well-known publications such as Life, Esquire, and Time, capturing editorial imagery. He has also released Last Places on Earth and Born to Run: The Unseen Photos, which came out in 2006, along with India: in Word and Image (2008).  He is married to Joanna (McCarthy) Meola, who, in addition to being a prominent photographer, was also both a Ford and Wilhelmina model. His official website is https://www.ericmeola.com.