ERIC PERIS      (b.1939   Malaysia)

Eric Peris is one of South East Asia's foremost photographers and works exclusively in black & white.  He often hand tints works, thereby combining his painterly and photographic aesthetics.

The Tin Mine Landscapes series is arguably his most significant contribution to Malaysian art history.   The series, taken in the late 1970s,  originally numbered 41 images which were published in a book by the same name in 1980.   Twenty three images from the published series have survived and have been transferred by Peris into digital format, thereby increasing  impact and  interaction, and  providing a contemporary format for these iconic works.

This body of work is significant for a number of reasons, not least of which is strong aesthetic content. The images speak to the history of a nation since a significant portion of the region's early wealth and thus nation building resources, was derived from tin mines. These landscapes have been lost to development, and thus ironically, continuing economic wealth has contributed to their erasure.   The concept of Impermanence (or ‘Anicca’ as termed in Buddhism) has been explored repeatedly in this body of work and throughout Peris’ career.

The clarity and tranquility of the images indicate Peris' state of mind at the time of photographing. He embarked on a journey, specifically to photograph these landscapes, soon after the death of his mentor and hero, his father. This emotional passage of the young Peris was one of the factors that perhaps operated to create a brilliance in these works - in the stillness and movement, the clarity of the light and the meditative quality of the images. Found in these works are themes of abandonment, rejuvenation, preservation and extinction.

TIN MINE LANDSCAPE SERIES – Twenty three images in series.
Black & White Lambda Prints.    Ed. 12
Print size up to 54" x 36".

Publications include
Landscapes - A Photographic Study of the Tin Mine Landscapes, Malaysia, 1980
Images of Gitanjali, (Pictorial study of the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore), 1984
The Malaysian Heritage Homes, 1989
Asian Art Newspaper, November 2007