Sometimes when your creative mind moves off in a new direction, in my case a fascination with abstract expressionism, you look book at past work and realise the thought and feel had been there for some time. This image was taken a year ago.
As I said in my previous post the last few months has been a time of reflection and consideration as to where I want to go next with my photography and image making. Much of my photography is landscape work. And whilst I still love the grand vistas I have taken increasing pleasure in small details of landscape, and anything else, where the image provides complex asymetric patterns, shapes and colours, often to the point of becoming abstraction. And whilst this was going on I went to the exhibition of Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy in London. It was an art style that I had encountered before yet not given much thought to. And the movement sought to describe the artists feelings about a subject through the abstract form. And in the exhibition yes there were paintings that I felt were of no significant merit, even just a trick for the gullible. Yet there were also shapes and patterns, some of incredible complexity (the Jackson Pollocks were fascinating) some simpler, that I found a resonance with some of my work. And yes, though photography and its recording of what was actually there might seem the antithesis of abstraction, there were abstract expressionist photographers. So whilst I will always publish a mixture of images, for the time I will explore this new form and see where it takes me. In some images the abstraction might be the result of nothing more than very close cropping, in others there may be more manipulation, and I will not always, or even often, say which or when or even what the original subject was; it is just about shapes and patterns, and my feelings about them and exploring the world around us through this medium. Hope you enjoy.
I haven’t posted anything for a few months. ‘Why?’ I hear you clamouring … OK someone please clamour. Well I have been taking photographs for longer than I care to reveal (but my first camera was a Brownie 127 ) yet it was only 2 years ago that I joined the Royal Photographic Society. And I joined deciding to work for a distinction and whilst it is achievable for many capable and experienced photographers, and after all how hard can a panel of 10 images be; and the answer is quite hard, with much agonising over choices, self-examination, peer reviews, letting go of some cherished images, incorporating new images, adjustments in photoshop, removing over adjustments; you get the idea.
Well at the end of last year I was awarded the distinction of Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society. And yes I am very pleased , proud and honoured. Yet that is only the beginning. Not only do I now want to work for the next level of distinction, associateship, but also the whole process of achieving my current level has caused much reflection and thought on photography and the process of imagination to create images.
So now I am ready to move on and whilst I will always have time for the sort of images I have posted in the past it is time for change and some new thought processes. Watch this space.
Notwithstanding this, though most of my licentiateship images have been seen individually on this site, here, perhaps for their last performance together, is the entire panel. I hope you enjoy.
