Shot in one day on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in central California, James Benning’s twin films, Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox, depict the natural landscape in spring and autumn. We move from one point to the next and admire the view, focused but relaxed. Each subsequent frame is carefully composed and devoid of any intrusive artifice - the fragment of the world being observed is the most important part. Walls of trees and stone constellations. A light wind that shakes the branches and pushes the edges of the fog. An idyllic light that ensures that the shadows hidden here and there have no element of mystery about them. In the background one can hear the singing of birds, interspersed every now and then with more resonant noises, the growling of animals or a noise that is difficult to identify. Just that and nothing more; nothing more than a sense of immersion in reality, so primitive and pure that it goes far beyond conventional documentary filmmaking.