Moved to tears

There I was, sat on the sofa, innocently catching up with my educational viewing.  Suddenly my eyes were leaking uncontrollably.  No build-up, no forewarning, no prior tugging on my emotional heartstrings - just spontaneous, unexpected tears.  It was a freaky but nonetheless wonderful experience.

So what was it all about?  Well, I was about three quarters of the way through the BBC 2 Culture Show special on David Hockney's show, "A Bigger Picture", at the Royal Academy.  I was enjoying the programme: Andrew Marr was asking engaging questions, Hockney was talking eminent sense (as usual).  His huge canvasses were impressive, skilful and full of life (see above), but I was focused on hearing what Hockney had to say. Then they hit me with the multiple screen images...

Press Image: Winter Timber, 2009 | © David Hockney | Photo: Jonathan Wilkinson

These are films which are taken using nine cameras mounted to a framework.  This means that the full picture is made up of nine screens each showing their portion of the image, but at slightly different angles (this article from the Royal Academy magazine explains the process a little more). The technique has similarities to Hockney's montaged photography - but instead of stills, uses moving images.  I don't think I've ever seem something two dimensional so closely capture light or life.  Incredibly beautiful said my brain, and my emotions clearly agreed...I'd been moved to tears.

While I can't show you here, if you're quick you can catch the programme on the BBC iPlayer for another three days.  Or, you could even go see the exhibition..!