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[ June 22, 2009 ]
I've been a photographer for over 20 years, and have been doing photo-illustration for about five years. I'm not really sure where it came from. I just had the desire to do something creative, and I thought that a camera was a tool with which I could be artistic. I didn't think I could be artistic with a paint brush or musical instrument - with drawing, painting and music, I think it's either in you or it isn't. Photography was something I thought could learn.
Tell us about your photo-illustration work...
I wished I could be a painter - it would be wonderful to be able to paint something out of an idea in my head. However, doing photo-illustration I think I've finally become the painter I always wanted to be.
How do you know when a photo-illustration is done?
With personal work I often challenge myself by taking the same base image and see where else I can go with it. I have a number of images like that on my site www.ordeal.ca
Philip Dixon was the first person to influence me photographically. My favourite three photographers are Philip Dixon, Eugenio Recuenco and Javier Vallhonrat. I admire their work, their style, everything about them. Recuenco is the first photographer in 10 years whose work completely blew me away. Nowadays, I'm much more influenced by illustrators, painters, visual artists, art, music, film, and architecture - especially in my photo-illustration. Another influence is sci-fi and comic books - I don't really read them, but I'm influenced by the artwork.
What are your unique talents?
There are a lot of different things you can do with lighting that can change the photo, and many different approaches. When I'm on a movie set, it's fascinating to see how they're lighting a shot. I buy American Cinematographer just to learn more about lighting. Even if you're working with natural or available light, you still should be making some kind of decision on the lighting.
When I teach, one of the things I tell my students is you need to look at the work of others. It tells you where you're at and where you can go. Try to surround yourself with art and photography as much as you can. You'll see how someone does something, which may influence and change your working method - it helps you grow. I'm constantly looking at art galleries, books, magazines, films, and listening to music. What works best for me is experiencing as many different kinds of art as possible. Although when you're looking at someone's work you really like, you have to resist the temptation to just copy it - rather you take what you like about it and incorporating it with what you're already doing and improving your own work. When I look at drawings or paintings, I'm influenced in an indirect way, because I can't do that brush technique, for example. That's why I look at paintings and other art - there's much more I can get from it. Many times, the inspiration you get is the inspiration to be creative and create a new piece of work. It gets you thinking creatively, gets you started on a new project, gets the ball rolling. Just looking at it, taking it all in - you never know where it will manifest and where an idea will pop up.
Tell us something no one knows about you or your work...
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