My interpretation of the world around me is fractured and fragmented through the lens of my experience as much as the lenses attached to my cameras.
I spent the bulk of 2019 in hospital, died 5 times that year, alone, and one of my greatest moments of joy, when I finally emerged from that ordeal, was steering my powered wheelchair around Kings Cross Woolies. Yep, you read that right. I received joy from being inside a supermarket, one of the most mundane experiences we may find ourselves experiencing.
You want to know why I was overjoyed? I was in awe of the wide array of colours in the fruit and vegetable section. My world had been monotone hospital colours for so long that I was simply overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of so many beautiful, bright colours! It's this awe, this joy, that I seek to bring to you through sharing my photos. This week's photo essay is not about any one destination, but instead it is about my quest to make photographs that move you in profound ways, photographs that shift between light and dark, morphing from colour to black and white and producing a shift and a change in you. My photographs aim to be full of life and emotion. I do this by painting with light and over time I'm developing my own unique philosophy of light.
The legendary landscape photographer, Ansel Adams, said it best. "In storm there are constant interplays of light and shadow, moods of clarity and obscurity, vast complexities and ethereal simplicities." I believe that the rendering of detail, or the lack thereof, are in philosophical service of revealing underlying truths, truths that you subjectively unveil metaphorically and symbolically based on your experience and where you are at on your personal journey. Art is subjective and fine art photography resonates with everyone differently. Find your own meaning in my works. Sit with them, put them on your biggest screen or better yet take heed of the words of Edward Burtynsky, "If you want to really get my work you need to stand in front of the print."
Photography is a subtractive art and in my work I am striving to pay more attention to the empty spaces for it is there that I might find the divine quality, that extends beyond the tools I use, and reminds us of the organic wholeness of things, reminds us of the infinite and inexpressible that surrounds us.
Many, many photographs have been taken, and many more will be taken, but the far majority of them are not art. The reason for this is that the number of true artists behind cameras is very small. The real secret to art lies less in technique and tools, and more in vision. By vision I mean a thoroughness of perception and a depth of response that, together, can evoke a veiled unity, the fundamental chaotic order of life. To be able to achieve vision and discover the world, I have to subtract the busyness of society, the striving, and find peace within myself. Finding peace I can then communicate my own sense of it, I can become a strange sort of teacher, who doesn't teach, but rather demonstrates his own act of discovery.
I like to write down my thoughts as a way of crystallising patterns and finding meaning. In the 90s I began sharing my writings around technology and trends - some of you joined me on my journey back then and I thank you for sticking with me. I mention this because this essay is one of those moments when I coalesce my thoughts and I am using these particular images in much the same way that Marc Koegel does when he creates seed photographs, that "change what and how you photograph in a crucial way and are a window into the future".
I'd like to believe that this essay and these images pave the way for later work in many spheres, not only making photographs. May this seed essay be both the way and the goal, in subtle harmony, like light and dark, the known and the mysterious as I, and we, continue to grapple with the immensities, the thesis and the antithesis that surrounds us in all its wonder.
Your photos beautifully capture moments of serenity and wonder. "Golden Opera" paints a stunning portrait of dawn's embrace at the Sydney Opera House, while "Painting with light" invites us to stroll through Hyde Park on a sun-kissed day. " Each photograph feels like a personal journey, inviting us to find solace in the world around us. Absolutely breathtaking!