How should we look at AI generated art? is it Photography, or digital art, or something else? Here are a couple of images that, while they are from my mind’s eye, they are not “real” in the sense that I shot them with a camera.
The Camera You Have /
Photography is evolving rapidly. Almost everyone now carries what just a few years ago would be considered an excellent camera, in their telephone. This proliferation of hardware along with an ever more image and video driven social media world has created opportunity for image making and story telling like never before in our history. Even though it feels strange to leave the “professional” equipment at home, I also find that the convenience and versatility of these devices and their software opens up new possibilities.
A visit to the New Acropolis Museum in Athens Greece.
Connections /
The ways that things are connect can be interesting. This is an example of wood connecting with metal to create an important structural element in a modern bridge design. It also is the interface of textures and two seemingly incompatible physical elements.
Cross connection between timber and steel.
Seeing through the clutter /
Lines and shapes often define themselves when looking through a cluttered scene. This image shows the even lines of sunset clouds through a chaotic scene of brush and trees. It could symbolize beauty or opportunity being just on the other side of an obstacle.
Seeing through the clutter
Words in a busy place. /
This is the busy loading dock at Baltimore Convention Center. I was waiting for a forklift to pick up our equipment and saw these words in chalk on the pillar. I wanted to create a different feeling with the composition so I waited until there was a break in the action and composed this photo. I wonder if people read this as they pass by or if it becomes lost in the blur of a busy day.
“Think about what you are going to do” Baltimore
Abstraction /
Sometimes I enjoy playing with light and motion to create images that might represent or hint at an idea. The viewer can then construct their own thoughts about the image and decide what it means to them. This images hints at two different themes, one is about a time before fences, and one can also be interpreted with deeper meaning about imagined constraints.
Imaginary Obstacle
What's over the next hill? /
One thing that is difficult about traveling in interesting places is trying to find when to stop. It seems there is always another hill or turn that might be hiding something one doesn’t want to miss. The road in this photo is in a remote part of Iceland, I shot this just as the temperature dropped and the water on the road started freezing. It was good luck to have a sturdy 4x4 with studded tires for the rest of the adventure.
Icelandic Road Freezing, 2007
This image is a good example of using a vanishing point to lead the viewer’s eye directly into the center of the composition. It also has a bit of mystery as one wonders what is over the hill in the distance.
The Road /
I love roads, especially long and empty ones in interesting places with unusual or beautiful scenery to enjoy. So I thought it might be interesting for the first few photos of this project to share some of my favorite road photos. Travel is one of the best things we can do to expand our knowledge and learn about our place in the world. Yes, it is nice to end up where you were initially headed but I think the thing that matters most, regardless of the goal, is to remember that “success or failure, the journey is the reward”.
Death Valley, CA 2008
This image uses leading lines to draw the eye up and through the frame from the lower left to the top right and then into the distant mountains.
Photo of the day idea /
This is my first foray into writing about and hopefully teaching a bit of what I know about photography. It is my goal to put up a photo each day or two like NASA does with their “Image of the Day”. I’ll them explain a little about the subject matter and why I think it is an interesting photograph.
Aurora over Iceland. September 2017.