My approach to photography
An ‘artist’ friend once told me after having looked through a selection of my photos that she was unable to see ‘me’ through the window of the variety of images I had given her. For her, each image should in principle have a ‘raison d’être’, have been taken for a specific objective, communicate a message, these aspects taken together giving an insight into the ‘me’ as photographer. While recognizing this as a noble and ideal goal, I was a bit taken aback, humbled, since I know that these criteria are not met by most of my photographs. In essence what she wanted to know was my intellectual-philosophical approach to photography, what you find on the sheet of paper that you read on entering (or better, leaving?) an exhibition of an artist’s works which should allow you to better understand, interpret, appreciate what you will see (or just saw). What follows reflects a bit on this – and it will certainly evolve over time as I mature.
One of my greatest pleasures is observing the infinite diversity of human and natural situations flowing around me as I move through life, and many of my photos result from an almost reflexive extraction of image instants from this visual flux by conscious application of various mental ‘filters’, the most important being aesthetics and, when people are involved, empathy. After writing this I realized it has similarities with Henri Cartier-Bresson's description of the ‘decisive moment’, the instant of creativity in ‘street photography’. These photos are predominantly of people, and range from ‘acknowledged portraits’ to ‘stolen instants’. What is the ‘me’ behind these photos? Simply my empathy for people and my interest in the human condition.
Many other photos are the result of a purely aesthetics-based image extraction process applied to either happenstance or voluntarily sought subjects. Here composition and lighting are key, the objective being creation of an image that captures the regard principally by its visual qualities. Subjects can range from landscapes to industrial objects to textures and surfaces; and the resulting treatment from literal to graphic abstraction. Here, the ‘me’ behind the images is imagination and vision - my personal way of ‘seeing’ the world.
Certain subjects or visual conceptualizations become themes to be explored in greater depth. Here I can offer some indications of the artistic approach and desired effect of each series. Some themes are finished, one example being the series/book on street musicians - ‘Musical Offerings’. Others continue, examples being ‘Silk’, ‘pArtHasard’, ‘Country roads’, ‘Ghosts’. Others are just beginning or yet to be imagined. Each theme has its own specific artistic objective and desired impact on the viewer.
While my predilection is clearly for B&W, going digital also facilitates enlarging ones chromatic palette to include colour. Certain images cannot exist without a colour dimension, and some are nearly equally effective in both B&W and colour. In virtually all cases I know from the moment I take the picture in what form the final print will be. I do however find it difficult to present a mixture of B&W and colour – that’s why they are generally grouped together in the following pages.