August 2010

28/08/10

“All art is a vision, penetrating the illusions of reality, and photography is one form of this
vision and revelation” - Ansel Adams (Yosemite and the Range of Light)

When I started to realize that I had a passion for landscapes, I was torn between depicting a scene as true, and depicting it in the way that I saw it in my mind. Was I cheating photography if I processed the image a little more than needed, a little different from the norm of film processing? Is it still a photograph thereafter?
Slowly but surely I started to realize that photography is an art-form and that it is, what you wish it to be. It is an exploration of the confines of your mind, your dreams and your soul.
My intent with my landscapes photos has always been to portray the landscape in all its beautiful glory, in those fine moments when sunlight and darkness mingles, when your eyes start to play tricks on you and when your senses start to become more acute to sounds, smells and forms around you. I want the viewer to come closer, just to assure himself that he is looking into a photograph and not a painting.

Many times I succeed in my impressionistic vision, but sometimes I take a wrong route with processing an image and I get totally lost in what I want the image to look like. Sometimes the image I have in my mind’s eye, does not work with the image that I took.
I spent some time in Knysna this month, searching the forests for the visions I had. I watched the play of light - in the chilling coldness of a rising sun with towering ferns, muddy footpaths and wet, exposed roots closing in on me and chilling me to the bone; in the fierce midday sun when all colors turn to a blue-ish glow that strikes back at your eyes with blinding white spots and reveal even the darkest corners of shades; and in the warm late-afternoon sun when you can almost imagine hearing the forest utter a soft sigh of content.
I came back with images of beautiful scenes and started working on the first forest image of many. I knew from the start that I was up against a challenge. Forests are chaotic - yet serene, beautiful – yet unforgiving. There is no easy way to capture a forest, our eyes filters out the dead wood and chaotic shapes and sees only the beautiful trees, ferns and moss, but the camera can be unforgiving, offering you the whole package and nothing more, nothing less. For three days I processed one image, and could not find the balance. I processed the file in five different ways, and still it did not work for me. My mind was up against a wall. I forwarded the files to my sister, who always has a good eye for what works and what not, and also to a photographer friend of mine who always offers me a different view on my take.
My sister confirmed my fears that the photo was not working and so did my friend, who offered his take on processing the file. What took me three days to process, took him ten minutes to correctly process the image and all of a sudden the forest came to life. All the time, I was trying to play down the details in the forest while it wanted to be accentuated in darker shades and colors.