My work is about the alternative narrative aspects inherent in digital photography.
The light captured by a digital image is stored as a binary code which can be
accessed to make an abstract image. As an abstract painter interacts with the
paint to get it onto the canvas with an aesthetically interesting rendering of
a subject and/or idea so I interact with the captured light of the photograph
in much the same way using the post production capabilities of the computer. Each of my works is made from a single raw file, the digital equivalent of a film negative. Once transferred from camera to computer I delve below the surface appearance to look at the basic building blocks of the digital structure, the pixel display of the binary code. Once it has been identified, I use various filters to enhance the elements of colour, line and form to give it a life of its own. The result is a new image that stands or falls on its own intrinsic aesthetic qualities. More often than not it bears little resemblance to the original narrative of the initial photograph but allows the abstract structure that underpins it to shine through, creating an alternative narrative that explores the artistic raison d'etre for the work. Although happy accidents do occur from time to time, the most consistent results come from paying attention to the picturing taking process. Light and how it plays on particular surfaces is paramount followed closely by identifying the abstract 2 dimensional compositions from within a 3 dimensional world. And like abstract paintings, when they work, these photographs extend beyond the limitations of the representational. Consequently each of my compositions is a journey in which the image dictates what directions to take; my major contribution is knowing when a destination has been reached. |