Ed Martin has experienced countless incarnations. War photographer. Decorated cinematographer. Oscar-nominated documentarian. Lately though, he’s deliriously happy cohabitating with his digital SLR, specially adapted flatbed scanner, Adobe Photoshop, and Mensa’s imagination.
Book introduction by Larre Johnson:
The thing about being an original is you don’t suffer from preconceptions. You intuit, gather, filter, color, and express yourself from places unimagined. You create art that has never existed before.
Of course, this doesn’t preclude comparisons with other geniuses temperament, or subject matter. If Ed were an illustrator, he might have been the first coming of illustrator Arthur Rackham. (Arthur had fairies, nymphs and pixies on the brain, too.) If Ed were director, he might have been the quirky, whimsical, broody Tim Burton—on the playground with his Id.
The current object of Ed’s affection? A small doll of unknown origin. (He thinks she might have been given to him by the pool man.) And while she’s been an extra in many of his previous compositions, it wasn’t until he placed her on his scanner, saw her iridescent skin and delicate, hand-painted features magnified that a star was born.
Ed’s camera loves The Fairy Queen. With her supporting cast of dolls, masks, and toys. In close-ups with flowers and butterflies. In solos from the center of an inimitable imagination. Obviously, the feeling is mutual.
