Sunday, January 26, 2014

SOME PHOTOS - FILTERED & ALTERED A BIT

 
I'm posting these photos I took in 2013 and altered a bit, mainly so I can see what they look like in a posted format.  I really enjoy playing with my camera, and most everything I photograph is something I see around me here at The Farm - commonplace subject matter with a touch of editing or not).  By the way, most of these images have already made a public appearance on Facebook
 
Here's a confession:  I'm really quite shy about my photographic work.  After sitting at dinner one summer evening, listening to an assembled group of established and rather renowned (area) artists bash photography as an art / craft, I felt like sliding under the table.  I would never claim to be an artist, and certainly I understand the limits of my "artistic" ability as per their definition; however, their commentary set my mind in motion. 
 
I'm not in any business with my photographs, and I'm not looking to carve out a niche for myself in the world of "art."  I work with my camera for fun and personal pleasure.  I do credit myself with a discerning eye, and I like to see what I can come up with once I move images from the camera onto my computer. I have always been drawn to the myriad tiny components that make the whole photo, so from time to time, I do a bit of macro work.  
 
That's about the sum total for me - - capturing snapshots that catch my eye, pique my interest, and provide moments of pleasure personally.
 
Here's what that process yields:
 

A single hinge holding a massive old door on the barn....



Beautiful lines of the datura flower as it unfold....
 

 
Magnified colors of a rusty piece of tin....
 


A line of color from an adolescent boy's interest in graffiti that appeared on the side of the barn one day years ago...
 

 

My favorite smiley guy on the farm in black in white....
 

 
An experiment in texture, using stone, bone, and a piece of pottery.....
 
I'm totally open to my readers' thoughts and commentaries, so feel free to throw in your two cents' worth.  Most importantly, just enjoy the images and colors.  That's what's most important to me.


1 comment:

Beth DIxon Layton said...

I, like you, enjoy the "art" of photography. Over the years, I feel like the quality of my work has improved,no doubt in part to the progress made in the development(pun intended) of cameras and the move toward digital. Some of that improvement, for my own photographs, I would like to think, also comes from growth and maturity... a more discerning eye, patience, etc.
Being also the pragmatic mathematician that I am (although looking up "pragmatic" I found that it excluded "theoretical" and math also involves theory... but I digress...),I researched the term "art" and found these two snippets: "producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power" and "A visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination. The term art encompasses diverse media such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, decorative arts, photography, and installation."
Both of these definitions would certainly apply to your photographic work and, I hope, to some of mine.
Is not art, like beauty, at last somewhat in the eye of the beholder? Much of what others consider art has no appeal whatsoever to me, and yet I would not feel qualified to say it is not art!
Tanya, you are indeed an artist in many ways... with your words, your paper-making, and your photography, to name a few. Please continue to share your art with us!
Beth