Impressionist Inspired
I have always had a passion for impressionist painters. The dreamy visions of Monets’ Water Lily Pond, the blue of Renoirs’ water in The Skiff and Degas' ballet dancers caught my imagination as I grew up.
Reading about the Impressionist movement in France in the mid 19th century I am not surprised to find that they were profoundly influenced by the discoveries of the early photographers. Around the same time photography was advancing rapidly and colour analysis was the subject of intense research. Colour wheels became fashionable with juxtaposition of opposites like blue and orange becoming the vogue as in Renoirs' The Skiff.
We see that paintings change from being precise and detailed to being blurred to convey a sense of movement. Degas is quoted as saying - ‘They call me the painter of dancers. They don’t understand that the dancer has been for me a pretext for painting pretty fabrics and for rendering movement."
I have always found this particular style of work attractive and I am currently enthusiastically making ‘impressionist’ style images using a variety of techniques involving movement of the subject, movement of the camera or movement of both in the same or different directions. I love experimenting! I am also enthusiastic about shooting through other materials to create distortion and magnification such as water, ice, rain and gauze.
Below is an example of one of my underwater images taken a couple of months ago when the autumn leaves were at their best. I have this printed at 30 x 30 inches in my own home where it looks amazing!
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