A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai)

A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai)

Jeff Wall

1993
I felt that that was an inherently instantaneous image, or an image of instantaneity and it was photographic somehow. It was an invitation for me to do something with it.”
Jeff Wall

This is Jeff Wall’s A Sudden Gust of Wind. Created in 1993 in Vancouver, now a part of Tate Modern’s permanent collection in London, England.

A photo of the artist Jeff Wall.
Jeff Wall by Greg Girard, October 2012
Four men in a very windy field.

A Sudden Gust of Wind takes us to an open cranberry farm where four figures fall prey to a forceful windstorm. With pages flying and people ducking, this scene, much like a Hollywood film, is full of action, drama, comedy, and surprise. And that is no accident.

Jeff Wall is considered a pioneer in the field of conceptual photography. He's known to leverage his art history background along with cinematic techniques, to create images that question what’s real and what’s true.

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