Elger Esser’s serene, light-infused photographs often juxtapose nature’s vastness with humankind’s comparatively limited efforts to create the built environment. In two images from 2019, now in Bruce Silverstein Gallery’s summer group show ‘In Sequence,’ Esser restricts his view to a relatively small, yet deeply tranquil scene of water and trees. Printed on silver-coated copper plate, the photographs’ glow recalls 19th century landscape photography and earlier northern European painting but surpasses precedents in the intense communication of mood via light. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 29th. Note summer hours.)
