Camera Art
As an artist who bridges the realms of photography and digital manipulation, I refer to my work as camera art. Each creation begins with the capture of a photograph, yet it rarely concludes as a traditional image. Using a digital camera, I seize the beauty around me, often with a vision for future photo manipulation. Simple adjustments such as removing distracting elements or correcting distortions are part of my process, especially when dealing with architectural subjects. I am fond of creating panoramic images using a long lens, stitching numerous captures together to form an undistorted wide-angle view. When portraying the human figure, I reshape proportions to align with my artistic concept, enhancing the figure’s power and allure. And in moments of heightened creativity, I transform scenes into alternate realities, bending and melting the visuals with Photoshop’s Liquify tool and adding cosmic skies for a fantasy or sci-fi effect.
Creative Focus
The subject matter of my work is a direct reflection of the world around me. I search for and capture beauty, then enhance it to match the vision I hold in my mind’s eye. My attraction to a particular scene stems from its layers, featuring an engaging foreground, mid-ground, and background. I seek out leading lines that guide the viewer’s eye and dramatic lighting that casts long shadows, adding depth and texture. Colors also play a crucial role, as I aim for hues that evoke romance, calmness, enlightenment, and serenity.
My Inspiration
Inspiration finds me in various places. Artists such as Vincent Van Gogh with his Impressionism, Salvador Dali and his surrealism, and Jerry Uelsmann’s surreal photographic compositions deeply influence my work. New experiences and places, especially in nature with open spaces, fuel my creativity. Themes of space and the infinite universe often permeate my work, reflecting my belief in the existence of life beyond our world.
My Technique
My artistic technique is ever-evolving, constrained only by the limits of current technology, which continually offers new avenues for creativity. Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop are essential tools in processing my digital photographs, enabling me to create large, high-definition wall images. A distinctive element of my process involves the use of Nik Silver Efex software. I have crafted custom settings that emulate traditional film and paper-based prints for my black and white images. By converting a color image to black and white, applying these settings, and overlaying it as a luminosity mask on the original, I infuse each piece with a nostalgic black and white film feeling while optimizing contrast levels. This approach lends my color prints a distinctive quality, suggesting the nostalgia of monochromatic photographic images in a modern art form.
Through my camera art, I seek to unveil an enhanced reality, filled with beauty and infinite possibilities, inviting viewers to explore and question the world beyond the physical reality.