Reconnecting with Nature

 

During the pandemic lockdowns and being unable to travel large distances, I started to explore the local area with my camera. I was interested in finding new ways to interpret the landscape and create an abstract world that extended the parameters of the subjects I found.

For all of us, it was a strange and uncertain time and the world around us was changing. I was interested in this distortion of our normal reality and sought ways to capture images that portrayed the world around me in a different way. Partly, I guess, as an escape, I wanted to create dreamlike images that had an ethereal quality not connected to any true reality or fixed within any time frame. Hopefully during these times I would be able to gain some comfort in being outdoors and find the opportunity to reconnect with nature.

Sway 

It was a time when we could not continue to live and work in the usual way and as a professional cameraman who has been working in the industry for 25 years on commercials, drama, and animation productions, I wanted to find a way to continue creating images during this period. With my experience and knowledge of photography and all the technical processes that I have practised in my profession, I applied them to my new explorations into abstract landscape photography.

This type of photography began to allow me to capture the essence of a landscape in a unique and imaginative way. I look for patterns, textures, and shapes that create natural compositions and form within the landscape. I use a variety of photographic techniques to build up my abstract landscapes that include taking many images of the scene with different exposure times and points of focus then layering these images for the final effect. I also use digital painting to create my abstract landscapes, enhancing details, altering compositions, and adjusting colours. This process allows me to produce dreamlike images that show an interpretation of the natural world.

Tree test

Although a viewer’s response is deeply individual, my abstract landscapes are designed to evoke a pleasant emotional response in the viewer that I hope conveys a sense of calm and relaxation. I would like people to feel like they are transported to another place when they look at my work and hope that they may feel a connection back to the natural world.

I am excited to continue exploring new techniques and discovering where my abstract landscape photography may take me. I am passionate about creating images that inspire and uplift people, especially in an increasingly uncertain world. I believe that art can have a positive impact on our well-being, and I hope that my work can help people to reconnect with nature and that we can continue to find beauty in the unexpected.

Homecoming - One of my first abstract images