Leave The Road, Take The Trails

I'm so pleased to have been included in the inaugural month-long exhibition of a new gallery that has opened in my hometown of Shrewsbury.

Mrs Jones Art Shop & Gallery officially opened it's doors this year with it's first exhibition "Leave The Road, Take The Trails" showcasing a number of artists across a range of mediums, but all who use the natural world as their inspiration.

The piece I submitted is called "Sometimes I'm Dreaming" and is a 60cm x 90cm photographic aluminium print using techniques that I feel brings the final image a little closer to a painting and hopefully challenges the viewers pre-conceived ideas of what a photograph is.

I actually used two techniques to create this effect, the first being Intentional Camera Movement, where I move my camera whilst the shutter is open to create an abstract, painterly effect that is full of movement, light streaks and energy. This requires me to finely balance the light coming into the camera - too much and the shot is over-exposed, not enough and the movement isn't captured. I've learnt over the years of using this technique that different types of movement result in different effects - slow, fluid, fast, erratic, all have a particular quality. I've learnt to pre-visualise the effect each movement creates so I can employ the right method for the shot I want depending on the available light, the subject matter, and the mood I want to create.

This movement of the camera I equate to a painter moving their brush across the canvas.

The second technique is taken straight from a painters approach to creating a picture, and that is to choose a particular colour palette. Whereas a painter will do this at the start of the process, in this case it is done at the end, in the editing stage of th photographic process (although I'll often have an idea of the final colour mood when I'm actually taking the picture. I creat this mood by saturating the colours I wanted to keep and de-saturating those I don't.

"Sometimes I'm Dreaming" is one in a series of abstract landscape images I've created using this effect.

It is so refreshing to have a gallery that not only views photography as art but is willing to hang photographic pieces alongside more traditional art mediums. I wish Faye from Mrs Jones Gallery all the success for the year ahead and I look forward to seeing other exhibition from this dynamic and exciting new gallery.