LOS ANGELES, CA.- Graham Howe’s Color Theory and the Fiction of Sight is a groundbreaking exploration of color perception and the nature of photographic representation. Created between 1983 and 1984, this body of work challenges assumptions about color photography, questioning whether it serves merely as a record of reality or functions as a kind of visual fiction.

Reflecting on his process, Howe states, “I was captivated by The New Color Photography—Eggleston, Shore, Meyerowitz—until I started questioning the nature of color photography. Is it just a representation, or a kind of fiction? These questions drove my experiments, turning my studio into a laboratory of perception.”

Using a 5x7 inch view camera and drawing from photo-technical literature, Howe investigated the mechanics of color photography—the interplay of primary and secondary colors, the physics of reflected and projected light, and the ways in which perception reshapes visual truth.

"I didn’t want to just study charts and diagrams. I wanted to test them, to push them until they gave way to something unexpected,” Howe explains. “I began layering artificially colored light with ambient and natural light, curious about how these mingled wavelengths might corrupt or clarify an object’s appearance. What happens when the theoretical meets the real? When the laws of optics collide with the slipperiness of human perception? Where does perception end and cognition begin?”

His experiments revealed color to be fluid—a negotiation between light, mind, and memory. His photographs do not simply document; they propose, question, and subvert assumptions.

Photography curator and writer Colin Westerbeck contextualizes Howe’s work, stating, “Howe’s satirical work is deeply rooted in the photo-conceptual tradition, drawing on the influence of his artistic peers, including William Wegman, John Baldessari, Douglas Huebler, Bruce Nauman, and Mel Bochner. Since the early 1970s, Howe has explored the relationship between perception and thought, specifically examining the inherently fictional nature of photography. His work delves into photography’s role in performance, ritual, and sculpture.”

Howe’s Color Theory series critiques conventional art principles with humor and intellect. A line of ducks mimics a funfair shooting gallery, simultaneously affirming and undermining artistic conventions. A restaurant tablecloth, its accidental folds transformed into an optical illusion, demonstrates three-point perspective in a wholly unexpected way.

By the 1980s, Howe’s work had evolved into a broader inquiry into photography’s essence—using wit, experimentation, and conceptual rigor to challenge art historical assumptions. Color Theory and the Fiction of Sight invites viewers to reconsider the nature of photography, the role of color in shaping perception, and the space between visual truth and illusion.

This exhibition is currently on display at The Reef, located at 1933 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles (90007). Housed in a building spanning over 10,000 square meters, The Reef dedicates two of its twelve floors to exhibition spaces, artist studios, and art book publishing.

Graham Howe: Color Theory and the Fiction of Sight is presented on the 4th floor and is open daily from 15 February to 4 May 2025.