IMAGES OF ART : CAMERA FOCUSES ON THE MYSTERIOUS

It’s tempting to call Denny Moers something of a travel photographer, for his most recent work records hidden treasures discovered during journeys to Turkey, Yugoslavia, Italy and Spain.

But the description is shallow. Moers’ prints eschew the more common scenes of villagers and vistas, and instead investigate a world of tiny details that can be found in Europe’s obscure cultural landmarks. His work, on display at the Susan Spiritus Gallery in Newport Beach through Feb. 21, captures Christian and pagan art, ancient ruins and other compelling sites, most in close-up. Moers treats the photographs in the darkroom to create highly personal, almost abstract images.

“A photograph should be like poetry and have an enigmatic element,” Moers, 33, said during a recent interview at the gallery. “I would never take a picture of anything that is not mysterious. That mystery is where the communication is.”

Many of the gallery prints were taken in 1985 and 1986, when Moers, a protege of photographer Aaron Siskind, visited several countries searching for expressive subjects. His goal was not to provide a historical reference of those subjects but rather to use them to create “an emotional context of discovery” for the audience.

The prints come with no explanations, no accompanying texts noting that “Spatial Qualities of an Ancient Interior,” for instance, was taken at an archeological site in central Turkey where a village was dug out of a mountain’s face in the 1st Century.

Moers said he refuses to put prints in context because it would dilute their power. They have to be taken artistically, at face value, he believes.

“I’m more interested in having a rapport with the piece (being photographed) that is purely subjective,” he explained. “All I want (to convey) is an awareness of and tribute to the creative process that made the thing I’m photographing. I don’t necessarily see (the subject) as a quality of the period in which it was created.”

His prints have been shown in major galleries and museums across the country, particularly in New York and Los Angeles, where he has been praised for an evocative style.

The New York Times’ Gene Thornton was impressed with Moers’ painterly quality in a 1983 review: “Like a photographic Mondrian or Albers, Moers produces elegant near-abstractions out of almost nothing . . . all of his pictures are beautiful, and some are also (descriptive) of a strange, mysterious life.”

This expressiveness owes much to the darkroom, where Moers adds toners and washes and experiments with exposures to achieve the various effects. Perhaps the most interesting element of his work is its abundance of mocha browns, clay reds and soft ambers. Moers gains these striking earth tones, despite using black and white film exclusively.

“It all comes down to the length of exposures and my treatment of the negatives. Part of the pleasure is not knowing exactly how a picture will turn out. See, there’s mystery in it for me, too.”

Although he now lives in Providence, R.I., Moers grew up in Los Angeles, where his interest in photography started at 12. The hobby turned into a passion during his mid-to-late teens when he was a student at University High School and was allowed to focus on photography.

“It was great because they’d just send me out for the day and I’d just take pictures,” Moers recalled. “I was more into traditional photography then, people, scenes, that type of thing.”

He moved to the East Coast to study at Empire State College and the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, N.Y. From there, he became associated with Siskind, who had a studio in Providence. From 1979 to 1980, Moers worked as a printer for Siskind, learning the techniques and abstract workings of photographs that marked his mentor’s work.

“I really gained a sense of maturity then. His influence was, of course, very great, and I found myself moving forward.”

Moers’ reputation, based primarily on prints of interiors and other architectural shots taken in Rhode Island, began to blossom. Then, with his career moving in a successful direction, he decided to further expand his style by seeking inspiration in Europe.

“It’s all been a valuable progression, an evolution for me. Going to Europe let me realize my growth; now I just have to take it from there and continue to grow.”