John Gough Photography
I am enjoying the work of Jessica Meyer. Especially the blending of old and new in the image above. It is a hand printed Cyanotype, partially bleached with Borax substitute.
This was created for a project in @icmphotomag challenging the creative ways in which we can combine both the fast digital world of ICM photography with the slow manual printing process of #cyanotypes, invented 180 years ago.
A couple of my wildflower images are on display at an exhibition at the Willow Tree in Walthamstow, London.
Details of the exhibition are:
We delve deep into Biophilic design and explore our innate connection (kinship) to the natural world. We celebrate the magic of this home on the edge of the Wetlands, with the River Lea and Epping Forest on our doorstep.
The artists featured in the collection find an abundance of inspiration within their environment. They are artists who pay attention to the delicate patterns on leaves and the way sunlight dances upon water. These are artworks for adventurers, stargazers, escapists, foragers and birdwatchers. For the explorers who love the wind in their hair and the crunch of leaves underfoot. Artworks to bring the urban wilderness of Walthamstow into our homes and onto our walls.
My wildflower artwork can be purchased at Artsnug
Hyper collage photography has developed out of collage, which has long been a technique used in both art and photography. Man Ray was an early exponent of photography collage in the 1930s. Jump forward, and we are all aware of the images created using Photoshop layers to build composites. Often to create fantasy effects. Andrea Hargreaves is one of my favourite artists using this technique.
….but what is collage? The Museum of Modern Art defines a collage as: a “technique and resulting work of art in which fragments of paper and other materials are arranged and glued to a supporting surface”.
Hyper collage photography is a technique that combines multiple images that are manipulated using Photoshop. For example, Jim Kazanjian uses the technique to combine photographs of different architectural features to create fantastical buildings and landscapes.
However, what has grabbed my attention. Are photographers that are using natural phenomena to create fine art hyper collage images.
I first came across Ysabel le May at the Saatchi Art. Where her work sells for upwards of $4000.
She is based in Texas and her art has been exhibited all over the world.
Ysabel Le May can be summed up simply: W.O.W. It stands for ‘Wonderful Other Worlds’, which she creates through the process of hypercollage.
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She photographs the natural world and uses collage to piece the images together to create a fantastical depiction of nature. She calls her images baroque tableaux.
The video above demonstrates the process she uses.
Lisa Frank is an American artist who describes her work as looking to communicate those momentary flashes of connectedness with nature.
She creates tapestries and still life composites using natural materials.
It is my purpose to draw the viewer into a local world as it hasn’t been seen before.
Lisa Frank
You can follow her process here.
Cas Slagboom is a Dutch artist. Again he uses natural objects but often combined with human figures to create a fantasy feel.
For me, photography is more than capturing the perfect moment. Every time I try to capture my astonishment with a single photo, I am disappointed. This was not what I want to see and feel. It is larger, more complex, more diffuse. I have to bring all those fragments together. In compositions in which they together tell a story that transcends my understanding. So, that every time I look at it, I can be surprised again.
Cas Slagboon
All the photographic technology we have to capture our world in images may give us idea that we really see it. ………I use modern technology to find a language that exceeds the photographic moment, so there is sufficient room for the complexity of what we call reality.
Cas Slagboon
I included the two quotes from Cas Slagboon because they sum up my own feelings. That it is difficult to capture the reality of the moment with just one photograph. I have been experimenting with the Pep Ventosa style of photography and mixing abstract and reality to capture what we really see and feel.
Hyper collage photography is just one more technique on that journey.
This is my image of the month for November. Once again it is a Pep Ventosa and figure composite.
I have been musing that this yearning for impressionism is a reaction to COVID and lockdown. We are not living full lives anymore. So many people are desperately lonely. We live our lives in a state of proxy. We want clarity but cannot see through the confusion. We are lost.
This is my October 2020 image of the month. I have been developing my Pep Ventosa style, by adding some static items to the swirl of confusion created by the multiple images.
I am fascinated by the way the technique creates a view closer to how we see. Or at least how I think we see!
This is my image of the month for September 2020. A message in a bottle. I am currently experimenting with a bolder oil painting style to try and achieve an image which is an oil and light hybrid.
Lately because of the COVID restrictions I have had less opportunity for street photography. I don’t want to travel on a train to London, and I have decided that pubs and restaurants are off limits for me at the moment.
So I have been looking for different outlets for my photography. My first love, landscape photography is restricted because long road trips and overnight stays are out. So it is difficult to visit the Lake District and Scotland.
So I am going to go a bit abstract.
It is just coming into Autumn. The most beautiful time of year IMHO. The next six weeks or so are going to be just so amazing. What I want to do is photograph the leaves and the trees and the sky and capture the mood. The feeling of darkening days, and ripe fruit. Hunkering in, log fires, smoky chimney pots, mellow mists and the foreboding of winter. I want to create an impression of the Autumn I see.
As Joel Meyerowitz says:
‘Once you have a camera in your hand you have a license to see.’
Abstract allows a creative control. Some would say too much. However, the end result is unique to you. It may be crass, but it is your kind of crass. A camera can give you the license to see, but abstraction gives you the freedom to feel and express emotion.
One of the most accessible ways of going abstract is to find the multiple exposure function on your camera. With this, you can create stunning abstracts in camera.
There are numerous videos that go into the technicals of ‘how to’ like this one.
You take several different images. These multiple exposures are then stored in the camera and merged to create a final image. Sounds complicated and technical, but it is not that difficult. Just have a go and experiment. Take 2, 3 or more images stacked on top of one another. See what works and carry on.
The most difficult part is finding Multiple Exposure on your camera’s menu!
The example above was taken in my local park. There are three exposures. Lengthening shadows on a white wall, autumn leaves and pine needles.
I think I will print my Autumn Abstracts. Stick them on a wall and then the next six weeks will be with me all winter
To see what you can achieve with this technique. Look no further than the work of Valda Bailey If you really want to get into Multiple Exposures then the Bailey Chinnery workshops are well worthwhile.
Now let’s get out there and enjoy the Autumn.
Pep Ventosa is a Catalan photographer who is known for his technique of creating impressionistic looking photography by taking multiple images of a subject and blending them together.
His series ‘In the Round’ featured trees which have become the lynchpin of his work. His photography, however, is now more diverse and includes urban landscapes, streetcars and street lamps.
When talking about his work he describes how:
The process mimics how we actually see: the eyes are constantly focusing on the specific details and elements of what’s in front of them and the brain then processes that visual information making the reconstruction so we perceive the world around us.
I have curated a selection of his images here.
Pep Ventosa uses hundreds of images to create an artwork. Is it art or is it photography? He purposefully blurs the boundaries. Look at his series ‘New Faces from the Past’
Trying to replicate the technique is not easy. As my attempt above illustrates. It is not just a process of walking around a tree, taking photographs and putting them into layers in Photoshop.
A good place to start is with the glorious Glenys Garnett
What is exciting about using the Pep Ventosa technique is that so much is down to trial and error, which means that your images will develop into your own style.
I like to shoot flowers backlit. Like the buttercups in the image above. This was achieved using natural light through a window lightbox.
Now that we are all restricted from roaming around with our camera, the spring flowers in our gardens make fascinating subjects. With a little post-processing in Lightroom and Photoshop, simple blooms can blossom into fine art.
Over the next few blogs, I will be explaining just how I approach flower photography, starting with how to build a simple window lightbox.
The simplest way to create a uniform lighting effect is to simply stick a piece of tracing paper or baking parchment on a window. Mount, the flower in front of it and take a photograph. Job done.
I use oasis to mount the flower, which can be purchased from Amazon.
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As my flower photography has evolved I have created a more elaborate window lighting setup, but it still uses natural light.
As I will explain in a later episode. Cutting the flower from its background in Photoshop is best achieved with as white a background as possible. So I now use a white diffusion fabric which I clip to a window using studio clips.
Both items can be bought quite cheaply from a photography store or Amazon.
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I usually pick flowers from my garden, or purchase them from a florist. I certainly avoid picking flowers from the wild. Bringing flowers indoors and photographing in a ‘studio’ environment gives ultimate control over the image.
Over the next few weeks I will be working through the process I use to create fine art flower images. This is episode 1.
I have avoided dropping my camera so many times using a simple inexpensive wrist strap like this one. Cameras and expensive lenses do not bounce!
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Vision 9
Today I viewed the Vision 9 contemporary photography exhibition at the OXO Tower on the South Bank. Nine leading outdoor photographers are displayed showing seascapes, landscapes and abstract images.
Why go? My rationale is that it demonstrates the gap between the work I do and truly remarkable photography. If I have a personal mission, it is to close that gap.
The photographers exhibiting are:
Valda Bailey Doug Chinnery Cheryl Hamer Marianthi Lainas Astrid McGechan Beata Moore Paul Sanders
The exhibition is on until the 15th April. Admission is free.