Boalum Light White Sands, New Mexico: A Visual Analysis

Observing the displayed works of art within the Herb Ritts photography gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston Massachusetts, one might take notice of inkjet-based printed photograph of a dark lonely night over a barren sandy landscape in New Mexico saturated in blue. This is because in the bottom center of the picture, there is a coiled and illuminated “hose-like” boalum lamp which is large and up-close, and this provides such a sharp visual contrast to everything in the environment around it. It is human nature to pay less attention to things that seem normal, or contextually and situationally similar to everything around it. Likewise, people will tend to notice things that seem juxtaposed and out-of-place with everything else. The 1973 photograph called “Boalum Light, White Sands, New Mexico,” by Yasuhiro Wakabayashi (professionally known as “Hiro”), is a 22 ¾ inch by 33 ¾ inch display depicting a lit-up boalum lamp sitting in the middle of a vast and almost monochromatically blue, empty, and sandy desert. It’s this juxtaposition of visual elements within …show more content…
However, when considering the piece realistically, the boalum lamp seems to be an awfully odd object to be resting in a desert in the middle of nowhere. But it would provide one important realistic use in a dark place, and that is to provide light. It is common sense to take light with you if you were to traverse land where it is difficult to see. It’s also a common artistic sentiment for a lamp of any sort, whether it would be oil, electrical, or florescent, to light up a dark area in a work of art. When it comes to a person carrying light around with them, the boalum lamp is a unique and seemingly unintuitive way to achieve this. It’s not as easy as holding a lamp with a handle, and you would probably have to wrap it around your shoulder if you didn’t have a bag to carry it