I see beauty everywhere. Most people seem to just walk on by, thinking about the past or future. I'd like to show them what they are missing. I am trying to show Nature as an Artist that is always accessible to anyone who cares to look.
Something, like a rusty oil drum, may initially seem ugly, but there is usually some part of it, at some viewpoint, which is simply beautiful. Photography allows me to capture this selection and make it my own. Digital post-processing allows me to modify the image to make it look like what I saw, in my mind’s eye. This vision is occasionally a direct representation of reality. More often, it involves blending memory, feelings, and symbolic images with ‘reality’. This is why perception is so much more meaningful.
The final product is a work of art that reflects my perception.
I usually start out with my equipment, and my dog, searching for an opening into one of these gems, which I see as 'Natural Art'. Often, it starts with something catching my eye, without my knowing exactly why. Upon closer examination, and contemplation, I isolate areas that concentrate this initial feeling. I immerse myself in the view that I am chasing, perfecting it to the finest detail. I often emerge from a session with the realization that I was, in fact, meditating.
There are certain photographic techniques which give different feels and effects, such as multiple, long, or out of focus exposures. If a dreamlike quality will help in bringing out what I see in a subject, then I use it. Likewise, a blurry shot due to motion can add action, speed, or (at an extreme) significant peace and solace.
The resulting photo transparencies (slides) are projected on a screen to a size of 7ft. As I step through this large window, the images take on a different look. All the elements that I had cut out are now long forgotten, as are the smells, temperature, sounds, and other distracting features. This frees my mind to caress the image even closer than before. The initial perception is now enhanced, and is identified more fully, consciously, tangibly. This is essential for the third part of the process, where I determine how the image should be refined in order to purify my vision of this piece of Natural Art. The slide is then digitized, and the necessary modifications made.
The result is a piece of art holds my attention and hangs on, demanding further examination of the smaller elements within the whole. I feel that my art comes from my mind and soul as much as, if not more than, nature itself.
Recently, I have been concentrating on close-up abstracts. The Canadian winter yields plenty of examples in various ice formations. Bark and wood is another source of great inspiration for me. Currently, I am exploring out of focus images, where colours blend together resulting in abstraction based on nature in a way that the eye cannot see alone. This expands on my prior efforts of sharing nature's abstracts, to making abstracts out of nature.
Federico Jose Sanchez