Artists Describing Their Art:
Tina West - Statement of the artist My still life photographs are sculptural installations, created environments that give new meaning to objects, as their scale is re-addressed through a new place in space and time. All of my still life's feature found objects, including objects that in some manner find me. Together, you and I make each photograph a story. I begin the story with the photograph, but it is your reactions and experiences that complete it. Certainly, I could finish the story as it relates to me, but I am far more interested in the telling of your own story. The photograph is my vision. The story is yours. As an introduction my camera of chose is a 4x5, I consider it a medium large format. The film of choice is Polaroid 59, there is a look and feel that can be found no other way. Now Fuji instant film, as Polaroid is no longer produced. The photographs are scanned and printed as archival pigmented prints. I am a collector of thing or objects. I cannot say what I collect it varies from day to day, or year to year. Ultimately the objects speak to me, or people have given ...
Bernhard Luettmer - The project is to create the image with a short composition as I wanted at times I took in here. Timing and movements of the camera or the machinery are important resources. Photography is listen to the world as we hear a beloved piece of music. For example: I see a tree just in vegetation, the wind gentle caresses the new leaves, the light shines and you hear all this on the skin. Now take a picture with the knowledge that this concentration and on the negative is something of the feeling....
Michael Easton - My nature photography reflects a personal vision of the spirituality of the land. Photographing nature primarily in British Columbia is a way of life that translates the passion for this land into a shared experience of imagery through the medium of the fine print. The challenge when finding an image in nature that is of particularly interest is to pare down the extraneous bits to the essential elements that is the essence of the emotional/spiritual experience. The textural and design elements of the image are the key to the mind's appreciation of the congruency of nature within an apparent chaotic framework. Black and white aids the mind in this process without the distraction of other colours. My motivation in showing this work is to help people develop a stronger bond with nature and by extension a greater interest and concern for preserving the many unique ecosystems of the world....
Corrie Ancone - Artist statement : "I don't care for the certainty of what's in front of my lens, but the creativity, the fantasy, the invention, that can gush from a thought before or thereafter. Between the certain and the uncertain there is a possible space, as in dreams and fables. Heavily influenced by mythology, nature and the techniques and working styles of the early European Dadaists, Impressionists and Baroque artists, my creativity stems from my lust for finding and exploring sympathies between the human body, the landscape and its textures. Oscillating between transparency and opacity, colours and images collide in my work, creating new visual and emotional images, often painterly and somewhat surreal, which affect perceptions of natural reality. This is sometimes described as 'synthetic realism'." Corrie Ancone ...
Ken Smith - The ongoing theme of my work is the recognition of natural forces, shapes, gestures. When I choose my subjects to work with I feel a sense of belonging to those innate forms I know them as my own destiny. It is satisfying for me to attempt to identify the most basic truths, that are common denominators of life's dynamic both in humans and in the rest of the natural world. My role as an artist is to say, "Look at this it is what I feel is true do you feel it also?" My creative life began as a freelance writer, and a commercial and editorial photographer. Since 1991, I've been concentrating on the fine art side of the work, and for the past eight years I've been working primarily in still life. Most of my work is split-toned black & white silver prints, although I sometimes handcolor the work. Recently my work has evolved towards color, and printing with archival pigment ink on fine papers. This change has imbued me with exciting new possibilities for creative expression and presentation. My work has been exhibited in international venues is in corporate and private collections in the United...