Bass series

Strings 1

The genesis of the Bass series was an assignment in an early class I took with Robert Moll at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts. We were asked to photograph one object in as many ways as possible. The string bass's history in my family begins with my husband dancing with my young sons to Charles Mingus' Ysabel's Table Dance. None of us were surprised when my oldest decided to play string bass in fifth grade. The bass is an unwieldy, but also surprisingly fragile and elegant instrument. At its lowest pitches, it is dark and rich, but its upper tones can mimic a cello, or even the lower range of a viola. Single lengths of wood are carved and shaped and polished to provide resonance for a mere four strings. There is nothing wasted. Every part of the instrument, (made with more or less refinement depending on the craftsman/artist) has its purpose.