''Photography deals exquisitely with appearance, but nothing is what it appears to be.''
Duane Michals
I am an experimental, expressionist and abstract photographer who aims to reinterpret the world around me. I seek to capture the essence of what I see rather than the reality. I want to make images that resonate with viewers' emotions, memories and life experiences.
Digital technology has made photography accessible to all, and although I welcome that progress, it has in my view, brought with it a frustrating sense of uniformity. It seems to me that all the best photographs of landscapes, wildlife and portraits, have all been taken several times over. Whilst I have enjoyed exploring these genres I was never satisfied with making images that looked the same as others. As Matisse recognised 'Creativity takes courage' and my journey has been frustrating and fun in equal measure. I am inspired by nature, colours, shapes, and textures as well as by mundane objects around the house and garden.
I have learned to use my camera as a paintbrush and most of the images on this website have been created using in-camera techniques such as Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) , Multiple Exposures (MEs) or a combination of both. There is an element of serendipity in this type of photography which I find extremely appealing. I can never return to a place and make the same image in the same way. Each image depends so much on the quality of light at the time, the combination of colours and crucially the complex settings I have used in camera, at that precise moment. I can spend hours focussing on one thing, manipulating the camera settings and the camera itself, until I feel I have captured at least one, of the pictures in my head.
I have recently begun experimenting with mixed media using a Gelli plate and then combining the results with multiple exposures in camera. This combination of approaches yields even fewer acceptable results but it is so exciting when this merging improves either the art work or the photograph. I will continue to experiment.
“The two most engaging powers of a photograph are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.'' William Thackeray
My images have won international awards and have been exhibited in Harlow, London, Birmingham, and Switzerland. Several images have been showcased in the Royal Photographic Society Magazine as well as in the prestigious FRAMES Magazine.
If you would like to see more of my work please click on the icon below.
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