Great Shot
Photographer Catherine Erb’s eye on the ball
“Polo—in one form or another—has historically been what I do when I am not shooting or making art. For years, the polo photos I took were for fun, family, and friends. I didn’t realize I was capturing that much information. One day I realized I had a decade of polo photography that told countless stories.”
“The summer of 2017 will mark the 15th I have spent in Santa Barbara. They’ve become special markers by which I measure my own and my children’s growth both physically and spiritually,” says Erb. “I use my time in Santa Barbara to reconnect and center, and more often than not I leave with a wave of new ideas, with new work already started, or ready to begin as soon as I get to the studio.” Michalita #1, mixed-media photo encaustic, 36 x 48 in. Opposite: Untitled polo #15, photo encaustic, 48 x 36 in.
“I began experimenting and replaced my sharp Nikon lens with homemade lenses that allowed me to capture the sport in an ethereal, layered, painterly manner. Some of the photos have made it to the studio, where I print them on watercolor paper, attach them to birch panels, and then apply layers of oil pigments and encaustic wax. Each finished panel represents a memory or dream of Santa Barbara, polo, and our special summers spent here.”
Clockwise from top: Untitled polo #18, mixed-media photo encaustic, 24 x 24 in.; Untitled polo #17, mixed-media photo encaustic, 36 x 36 in.; Untitled polo #20, mixed-media photo encaustic, 40 x 40 in.; Untitled polo #16, mixed-media photo encaustic, 24 x 24 in.
Untitled horse study, black-and-white pigment print, 17 x 22 in.