New Website Complete!

After much tweaking (and one complete redesign), my portfolio website is finally done and live.

The site was co-designed and built by the very talented (and patient) Maggie, of Web Factory North West.

Perfectionist that I am, it's always going to be a work in progress, but I'm really pleased with what we've created. Any comments or criticism would be welcome, however...please let me know what you think.

Visit atelierphotosynthetic.co.uk to take a look.

A Hinge, a Door, and a Dome

Not new work, strictly speaking...but newly retrieved from the archives...

Barn Door No. 4, 10x10 print

UnHinged, 12x8 metallic print

St. Paul's, 9x6 print

See my Etsy shop for full details.

Sin-thetic

"In order to know virtue, we must first
acquaint ourselves with vice"
Marquis de Sade

Bound Geisha, 2009

 

The fetish aesthetic, and the world it represents, celebrate the bold, the stylish, and the extreme...but most of all creativity, freedom and individuality of expression. Theatricality of styling combines with the imagination and dedication of those who immerse themselves in this underground and little-understood subculture. And while the aesthetic is found increasingly infiltrating the mainstream, the lifestyle from which it emerges remains firmly rooted in the realm of the outsider.

Ballerina, 2009

The Sinthetic series occupies a space between these semi-dichotomous approaches. Coming from within the subculture, the subjects of these images are those for whom this is a facet of personality and aspect of self-expression. These images represent not artistic artifice, but an authentic aesthetic...twisted and manipulated to further emphasise the stylistic and existential inspirations both of those involved and of the aesthetic itself.

Tightlaced, 2009

The fetishistic gaze is distilled here into its most concentrated and sophisticated forms...iconography which is at once familiar and alien encapsulated in dramatic high contrast, graphical enhancement and innovative composition. Convention is rejected in favour of a 'libertine' approach which mirrors the culture itself, the images simultaneous flights of fantasy and documents of reality, the extreme empowered and the extraordinary embraced...in the Sinthetic world. 

The Chrysanthemum Tattoo, 2008

Ch-Ch-Changes

Almost three weeks since my last entry...but not due to laziness, honestly.

Since making that post, I've acquired a new day job, spent a full week training for that day job, started work, and also packed up my life (including the entire contents of my home) and moved 250 miles north! It's been a whirlwind, but it's done now, and things are slightly calmer...although I don't expect them to remain that way for long, because the new job is due to go crazy in 4 weeks time.

Frustratingly, my camera has barely been out of its bag these last few weeks, but I hope I can change that before life gets hectic again. Spring is here, the sun is shining, and I have a whole new area to explore and photograph. An area of industrial and post-industrial landscapes (mmm...rust!), an area of hills and crags and waterfalls and dry stone walls. An area full of intriguing and exciting possibilities. I also plan to start experimenting with HDR, which I've been procrastinating over for a while.

Lots of changes, but positive ones. And fresh inspiration. I hope (and intend) that there won't be three weeks between posts again for the foreseeable future. And I hope there will be lots of new photographs to show you.

The UK Photo Team on Etsy

By Pipistrelle Photography

A little while ago, on a grey and gloomy Sunday afternoon, I was passing some time by assembling a collection of work by British photographers, for a Treasury list (a curated selection of items from among the thousands of shops and creative talents on Etsy). While looking at a series of quite superb images, of every conceivable subject and in every possible style, an idea began to take shape.

By Purpleface

Since I got serious with my own Etsy shop last Autumn, and began to participate also in the community of sellers, I'd noticed a few things. First, that there are huge numbers of very skillful and talented photographers out there...second, that a number of them are right here in the UK...and third, that the existing photography groups and discussions tend to be (quite naturally) somewhat US-centric.

 By Helen Iles

It struck me that similar discussions might be useful to us over here too, but that they wouldn't naturally fit into the POE (Photographers of Etsy) group if they were specific to the UK, or  into the general British sellers boards of they were specific to photography...and that there were probably other things specific to our work and location also, as well as potential value in various team-type activities with a focus on our artform. Then I started thinking about more possibilities, further down the line, such as a website, or group show.

By Cherry Blossom Tattoo

So, lots of UK talent, with UK-specific ideas and information to share perhaps, but no UK group...hmm. Maybe nobody would be interested in such a thing? Well, being a man for whom actions always speak louder than words, I sent out a few emails and floated the idea of creating a UK-based photography team...and received universally positive responses, including several who said they'd had similar thoughts.

By Al Brydon Photography

Once I had a dozen potential members, and a kind offer of assistance from Donnah of Whittaker Photography, it seemed like a viable idea...so the UK Photo Team was born February 24th. One week in, we already have 36 members, an active discussion board, and hopefully a bright future.

By Whittaker Photography

Amazing what can come out of a gloomy Sunday afternoon.

Landscapes and Textures

More new work from Lancashire. The first two photographs were shot in the shadow of the famous Pendle Hill, an area famous for what has become known as 'The Lancashire Witches'. In 1612, a group of people from this area were tried and executed in the biggest witch trial ever held in England. Ten men and women were hanged at Lancaster Gaol for witchcraft. More on the Pendle Witches, including transcripts of their confessions, can be found here.

The Witchfinder Watching, 2011

Where Witches Walked, 2011

And these next two images are a return to my familiar themes of textures and surfaces, and the intersection of the natural and man-made world.

The Woodshed, 2011

A Cut Through Time, 2011

As always, various prints and finish options available at Etsy.