Art In The Time Of COVID (Appologies to Gabriel García Márquez)

 Art has always been my compass and my passion.  Art has also been and continues to be my means of communication: an expression of that which I see/feel and how I interpret these sensations.  My "art expressions" have gone through many iterations: photography, illustration, portraits, landscapes film, pastels, oils, digital, watercolors to name several.  Although during each specific phase of my dedication to art, I devote myself to a particular focus, my mind is always crowded with ideas.  I avidly study art in all of its marvelous forms for inspiration and these explorations add to my desire and need to create.  Not necessarily create the art I study, but give my inspirations a new spin.  For example: if I were studying Michelangelo's sculpture, I do not yearn to carve marble but rather to incorporate the master's delineation of the human form and shape into my creation of still life.  Or if I am fascinated by the animated art produced by Disney's wonderful artists, I may learn new techniques for composing for my architecturals. Fortunately, I am able to continuously study the masters to expand my skills and perspectives.

Years ago, I met a man who became my mentor: Murray Miller.  Miller was a genius portrait painter.  Effortlessly, it seemed, he created pastel and oil studies and portraits during our weekly art forays to the 3-hour pose at the Salmagundi Club in Greenwich Village, NYC.  Miller studied all the greats of portraiture, Raeburn, Sargent, Velasquez.  And he taught me to appreciate nuances of tone, line, form, and especially light. Advising me  to paint still life in order to understand these and space, composition, relationships, Miller showed me how still life could help me to build a foundation for photographing and painting my subjects.  I began to photograph and to paint still life under his tutelage.  The spacial aspects of still life are invaluable concepts that teach how to effect 3-dimentionality on a 2-dimentional canvas or in a photograph.  Although still life is perhaps usually more "quiet" than other subjects, it is equally as powerful a statement.  I painted still life and photographed it for years, but then moved on to primarily focus on other subjects. I think that art can be a cumulative venture: I tried to take all the opportunities and means I could to express my vision, journeying from one application to another while utilizing all of the previous lessons.

To the ends of skill building: upon graduation from college, I became an architectural draftsman by day, while pursuing commercial and fine art photography and painting by night.  I have always drafted, designed, drawn and photographed architecture. Therefore, throughout my other art experiences, architectural photography threaded through all I artistically endeavor.  However, COVID-19 put the breaks on taking photographs of buildings where I would be out and about in the world.  "Quarantine: Perfect opportunity to de-clutter my very cluttered house," I thought early on.  As I packed boxes of objects to give away, I began to examine the bowls, jars, silvery trays.  The textures and shapes seemed so interesting.  I juxtaposed form with design with line.  As I set these up in my studio window space, I saw how the north light enhanced each object by itself and in tandem with the other pieces of the composition. I began to think of shapes and colors in light as well. Colors always evoke flowers for me. Remembering a series of photographs I took at the New York Botanic Gardens right before COVID-19, I began the delightful pastime of delving into florals.  

Photographing flowers is similar to that of still life.  Although flowers are living beings and many still life objects are inert, it is the task of the artist/photographer to give each life: a 3-dimentional presence on a flat surface.  Therefore, during COVID-19, I used my time to create still life and flower photographs: infusing my days with art.  It has been a strengthening and productive experience.  I certainly did not wish for a pandemic and am deeply saddened and disturbed by the tremendous havoc, pain and illness COVID-19 has caused.  However, I as always, turn to art for peace, hope, beauty and purpose. I hope for an end to the pandemic and the devastation it has caused throughout the world. As I anxiously wait with all humanity for health to return, I will look to art for comfort and purpose.

"Pears" Color Photography Still Life-Ellen Fisch 2020

"Apples"Color Photography Still Life-Ellen Fisch 2020

"Hydrangea" Black & White Photography Still Life-Ellen Fisch 2020

"Eggs" Black & White Photography Still Life-Ellen Fisch 2020

"Gladiola" Sepia Photograph with Color-Ellen Fisch 2020

"Rhododendron" Color Photography-Ellen Fisch 2020

"Orchid" Color Photography-Ellen Fisch 2020

 

 

 

The Art of Architectural Photography: Exhibiting With Other Photographers

Recently I was pleased and honored to participate in a group photography exhibition at Jadite Galleries in NYC.  In all, there were six of us showing photography as our form of self-expression: each photographer exhibiting different subjects.  It is stimulating and informative to be part of such a group.  I exchanged ideas about the art, craft and technical side of photography with my peers, while enjoying the social aspects of the event as well.

I have taken part in many group exhibits as well as solo shows of my photography and art.  I find that the most wonderful part of group exhibits is the shared passion that brings us together.  We also contribute information, vision and ways of producing photography/art.  Most times photographers get together anywhere an immediate bond of photography is formed.  There is so much to exchange: what we are photographing; past and present influences; exhibits; the cameras and other equipment we use.  Shop talk. 

At an exhibition with a number of photographers who are passionate about their work, there is also a palpable excitement: a coming together of creative energies and perceptions.  Then, there is the mix of friends, family and clients who drop by at the opening and throughout the exhibit.  It is always fascinating to me to meet new photography enthusiasts.  They share their ideas and impressions and especially how the photographs affect them, the viewers.

Exhibiting my photography is a significant part of my art for without a viewer, my work is only half finished. My photographs are created to be seen and experienced, just as I see and experience  through my lens. 

The Art of Architectural Photography: Releasing the Image from the Stone

There are some concepts that resonate with the very soul of an artist.  They are often gleaned from studying the masters and/or their works.  Several of these principles have long guided me in my work and have greatly influenced how I look at the world.  Years ago I  appropriated one idea from the great Michelangelo, who claimed that he merely released the statue from a block of marble. A second fundamental belief I follow comes from another genius, Mies van der Rohe: less is more.  I subscribe to these two tenets in my work as well as in my life.

In order to release a work of art from the figurative block of marble (of course for Michelangelo it was a literal piece of stone), I must first see the form and understand the way in which it will emerge from its surroundings.  In the case of the marvelous staircase railing in The Breakers mansion of Newport, RI, I saw a fluidity of line and form that cascaded into a helix shape, suspended in not only space but time. The magnificence of a form so free as to seem weightless commanded my attention and I did not notice the other elements that visually "encased" this wrought iron railing when I took the picture.  I mentally released the form from its environs.

The many other elements in the image that I shot were subjectively taken away to create a clear focus.  I do this often when I take pictures.  I simply consider an image in terms of post production, frequently Photoshop.  Unwanted telephone wires, window air conditioners, cars are filtered out of the photograph through the lens of that which I wish to appear.  As Mies van der Rohe said: less is more, and so I eliminate unwanted visual distractions.  In my mind, there is a central focus to my photograph and the supporting components must not only reinforce the "star" of the work but elevate it.  To that end, first as I took the picture and later back in the studio, I freed the staircase from two beautiful oil paintings in wonderfully ornamental frames and some stunning light fixtures.  I then removed, in my opinion, the distracting color and converted the image to sepia, a preferred medium for many of my architectural photographs.  I find that sepia softens the space and, perhaps creates a timelessness.  The staircase's wrought iron railing emerged as a thing of great beauty, an ageless work of art celebrated by the other curves, lines and values of light and dark in the photograph.

Here are the Before and After images:

The Art of Architectural Photography: Beautiful Palette Colors- Blacks

Colors have allure and vibrancy.  Colors dance off the photograph as they create the dynamic tensions or dreamy flow within selected palettes.  However, trying to create with some colors is a Herculean task for me.  I always found reds to be especially difficult to work with, or certain blues.  These powerful eye-catching colors can take over the composition and render a photograph disjointed or exclusionary.  Titian, the great painting master, used reds in an unparalleled way and allowed his entire compositions equal footing with the force of the Cardinal's robes.  Monet used many blues in his Impressionist paintings and very successfully incorporated other colors that are afforded their own distinction.  I am enamored with all colors, each for its own attributes.

Blacks are compelling in their variety, dynamism, depth, richness, delicacy and beauty as colors.  Within the blacks palette, there are soft, hard, strong, light, luminous, shadowy and a host of other color characteristics.  Throughout my career as a photographer I have studied the richness and artistry of the various tones of blacks, marvelous additions to any photograph/artwork. And, especially working in Black and White architectural photography, I need to compose with the Blacks areas of the compositions in order to give prominence and form to the darks as well as the lights.  However, using a blacks palette for abstract photography is quite another story as the forms are created not by subject but by my own composition.

In working with my current theme of abstract photography, I have been fascinated with focusing on monochromatic color as a structural guide for composition.  Blues, greens, sands have all been utilized as unique hues, but with enormous range of spectrum within their own color grouping. My first book was of abstracts within the whites palette.  This palette was chosen arbitrarily so that I could envision how abstracts of different styles might have a connection through values of tone and hue. Whites, because they can be indistinguishable from each other and actually "lose" form and content, proved to be a benchmark in my experimentation with a series connected through a single palette but with all of its various iterations.  Working in this monochrome palette, I found that I could accomplish many of my goals and thus, I proceeded to blues, which were another challenge. Once I had a collection of abstract photography in various blues palette I sought out another color of great beauty yet, like whites, challenging in its properties: blacks.

Blacks, like most colors, have limitless variations within their "category" of color; however, these can easily dominate an abstract and/or create challenges when I am attempting to bring forth forms because of the way in which the darks blend into each other.  Further, adding too much light takes away from the notion of an abstract dominated by the palette of blacks.

Composing with the wide array of blacks colors, I have come to a greater understanding of the relationships of dark tones and how they interact within a specific composition of an abstract.  I think that abstracts are a little like jazz in the sense that I can riff off components in the composition as they "happen" rather than focusing on a particular subject or form.  The Blacks especially allowed for this as I was compelled to create and bring forth forms and line without compromising the overall elements of using darkest and lighter darks.  Working with and studying the Blacks palette greatly added to my knowledge of all photography and will certainly further my ability to create realism as well as abstract photography and art in the future. 

The Art of Architectural Photography: On Creating

It is the passion of every artist to create.  Many artists also exist to realize their creations.  For others it is the journey.  Personally, the journey or the process of creating works of art is the allure of art, its absorption, immersion and gratification for me.  I am most satisfied with a work I am creating just before its completion.  Not to say that my photographs do not live up to my expectations: often they do.  But it is not the end result that keeps me completely engrossed in photography: it is the process of finding the subject; photographing the subject from as many angles as possible; the post production of retouching, composing and "getting it right" that has made and still makes my journey so wonderful.  And many times, I am thinking of my next images as I complete the several I am bringing to fruition.

All that said, there are dreams that elude artists as well as those that come to be.  A dream that many artists experience is to create something totally unique.  An out-of-the-box or completely exclusive work or genre that only pertains to themselves and their art.  Many search for this elusive prize.  Numerous master artists have never archived this particular accomplishment of creating something, a style unlike any other: all their own.  To be sure, artists may never even consider creating a novel approach or technique or result that they deem important or even related to making their art.  I, however, have long fantasized about going where no one has gone; perhaps being the first.  To that end, I have studied art and in my travels, I have first and foremost relished seeing the art of others in places that define their art, yet are universal.  For example, when I traveled to Spain for Sorolla and Sweden for Zorn, I finally could (almost) conceptualize how light is expressed: the brilliantly hot light of the southern Mediterranean and cool, softer light of the North.  And my resent trip to India gave me some understanding of Eastern forms and compositions at times little utilized in the West: great, pointed arches; fanciful fretwork and other aesthetic elements.

Attempting to incorporate the new to expand upon my photography has been a marvelous journey in itself.  The meshing of my experiences with my own perspective has given me the will to dig deeper and continue to evolve as a photographer.  Initially, my love of black and white and sepia architectural photography developed into other areas of photography and subject.  And while I continue to explore the new, I cherish my past interactions with my camera and post-production.  Thus, my new focus on abstract photography has grown out of many sources.  I returned to abstraction, which I (and many others in the art world) studied in college and graduate school in the  1960s and 1970s. Of course then we looked towards the earlier abstracts of say Kandinsky, Miro and even back to cave drawings, which sometimes took on abstracted qualities.  Only currently, I come to the genre of abstraction with fresh eyes.

My recently self-published little book of abstracts also contains a secret, for often abstracts have many hidden meanings.  The book is a compilation of years of seeking composition, line, texture, form and the other principles of photography and art.  It is part of a journey that will be expressed in a number of books.  Take a look if you'd like to travel with me. 

Folio of abstract photographs created in a whites palette. Each abstract photograph has special associations with imagery, identity and imagination, thus inspiring connections.
https://lnkd.in/euXk38N

The Art of Architectural Photography: Visiting an Old Friend

Recently I posted The Flame Tree, a photograph I created a decade ago.  The mainly sepia landscape with an autumn blaze of colored leaves was designed and enhanced in post production.  It has been licensed for poster art and also reproduced as greeting cards, and while I've seen my photograph throughout the years, I am always surprised when I come across it again.

The image was shot in RGB (color) and softened to a dreamy sepia for the mood I wished to express.  The pop of colorful foliage marks my love of the fall season and evokes several marvelous occasions when I found myself on a quiet, misty lake with a lone beautiful tree.  Chancing on such a spot always nourishes my creativity and spirit.  I deliberately down played the background while accentuating the tree, yet it was a task to impart some significance to the complete composition.  Somehow, it came together to form the image I envisioned. I picked up a lot of skills and information while crafting the effect I was seeking in the photograph.

In revisiting photographs, such as The Flame Tree, I may feel as though I've succeeded in expressing that which I envisioned.  I am always, in viewing my work, prompted to think about the process of creating the photograph.  There have been a few images that were simply point-and-shoot photos: lucky shots.  Others require a good deal of effort.  There are those images that take so long to complete that I can't believe the amount of time I have spent on one photograph: Birch River, is 65+Gs and is saved on about 35 disks!  Are the photographs any the more or less for the labor and thought that went into them?  Not really.  If I've communicated an idea, a place or a feeling then it matters not the process to get the image right; only to me, perhaps, is the actual creative journey meaningful.  The learning and the work that goes into my photography brings me much closer to it.  I develop a connection with my work as I explore what the Raw image offers me.  When I complete a work, I feel as if I know it well.

And so, in posting The Flame Tree I had an opportunity to share an old friend with any who would like to take part in my experience of that time in autumn and my glad surprise of the flash of color on a misty day. 

A few of my photographs I'd like to share that are reminiscent of autumn, my favorite season:

Newport, RI: sepia photography

Queenstown, NZ: color photography

Sugar Hill, NH: color photography

Newport, RI: black and white photography with color

The Flame Tree: sepia photography with color

The Art of Architectural Photography: How (and Why) to Create Abstract Photography

Abstracting is taking a form and focusing on one part of that form to emphasize it or create a new form out of that aspect of the original subject.  For example, observe a burning candle and paint/draw/sculpt only the dripping wax or the flame.  That might be a way to abstract the original image of the burning candle.  Or: use the spokes of a bicycle wheel to form a composition.  These parts of the total may make up their own totality.Abstracts can ALSO be a part of an idea and not a physical subject.  For example, think of clouds.  The shapes of certain clouds may be your idea; however, you may want to take parts of that concept to create an entirely new form/shape or composition. Emotion can, as well, lead to an abstract photograph.

Abstraction has long been a painting genre.  Going back to ancient cave paintings, symbols can be viewed as abstractions of either physical or mental/emotional subject.  Some of the cave paintings are representational and others are distorted, probably by intent rather than lack of skill or the erosion over time.  I prefer to think that the cave dwellers were as capable and communicative as were any artists in other ages throughout time.  Well then, painting and drawing are hands-on practices and abstraction with those mediums can be accomplished with the brush or pencil or pen.  What about photography?

In the darkroom, there were/are a variety of ways to abstract an image: double exposure, using bleach or salt, combining chemicals and so forth.  Although digital photography poses differences as opposed to film, in the area of abstraction there are limitless ways to abstract a photograph either in the digital camera or in computer post production.  In this post, I will suggest some of the post production/computer ways to create abstract photographs.

1.  First, chose a subject from your photography/image library in your computer.  Or upload an image into your computer.
Your subject may be anything from a panoramic shot of the Grand Canyon to a raindrop.  Or as suggested before, it may be an idea or emotion, such as excitement, clouds, a festival, happiness, longing.....anything and everything may be used that appeals to you.

2.  Isolate that aspect of your subject on which you would like to focus.
Is your raindrop a specific shape you like?  Does it hold a reflection of a garden?  Do the striations of rock in the Grand Canyon create a beautiful color palette for your image?  Does the feeling of excitement suggest jagged lines or swirls to you?  Is a festival like a drip painting or enormous numbers of dark and light dabs?

3.  Once your subject is clear to you, think of form, composition, tonality in terms of lights and darks, color or monochrome, design.

4.  If your subject is part or all of a physical shape, put it on the appropriate sized "canvas" in your computer's application of choice.  I use Photoshop CS3 (still!!).  If your subject exists in your mind, select a "canvas" size that you think would be the right proportions on which to conceptualize your idea.

5.  Look at/imagine the subject as it will appear on your canvas.  And if necessary, re-proportion the canvas.  The proportions of an abstract are just as important as those of a representational work.

6.  Find your main focal point on the canvas.  Would you like the viewer to see the upper right quadrant first?  Bottom third?  The only choice that is not the best is dead center/  When a canvas has a main focal point in its very middle, the rest of the canvas has a way of "disappearing."  Look at the works of some abstractionists and you will see that rarely is dead center the emphasis of the work.  For that matter, the same apples to realism. Critical to the work is that when finished, the eye of the viewer "rove" around the photograph to see everything in all parts of the image.  That is what creates a good composition.

7.  Once you have laid out the composition, examine what Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, or whatever application you are using has to offer in the way of augmenting your subject.  I always preserve my original image, copy it in another document, use layers and in this way no elements of my initial photograph are destroyed or unalterably distorted.  In Photoshop CS3, I like to experiment with such filters as liquefy, noise, paint daubs, plastic wrap, glowing edges and so on.  I begin work with these experimentations until the abstract begins to emerge from my original subject.  My premise is that I have an idea in my mind, but the computer will help me by providing the keys to unlock it.  Just as when I take a picture with my camera, which is an invaluable tool for capturing a photograph, my computer assists me as any art "equipment" might.

8.  If you like, try different plugins.  I have an array of plugins available that sync to Photoshop.  I use these to experiment with as well.  There are many such tool on the Internet that offer a free trial.

9.  Crop out what you think doesn't work.  Abstracts are ever changing images that, in my opinion, are far more fluid than representational photography usually is.  Abstracts represent so many different things to an ever changing audience.  Therefore, adapt your composition as you go.  In my mind, creating abstract photography is a little like jazz improvisation: notes are added, left out, changed.  Altering the proportions of your abstract composition, particularly with the ease of computer cropping, can be a significant part of creating the work.

10. Another option when creating abstract photography is to overlay multiple photographs or parts of photographs on your image.  Combining textures, colors, design, and even other subjects may enhance your photograph.

Most of all, I find that through abstracting photographs, I can produce better representational images. Abstraction teaches me the fundamentals: composition, values (tonality), color proportion, line, form.  It is also fun and a marvelous way to experiment with the wealth of technology photographers have at their fingertips.

Steps in creating an abstract photograph.  After the images, I describe the process.   

Metalic Rose: Abstract Photography

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Creating Metalic Rose:

Step 1: Metalic Rose began with a graphic design I created years ago.

Step 2: I changed the color of the graphic and overlaid an image of crumpled satin to create more textural interest.

Step 3: On a separate layer, I added a photograph of a rose with dewdrops above the background texture.

Step 4: Using a mask, I painted out sections of the rose where I wanted the texture background to come through.

Step 5: Using a gradient, I added tonal interest by emphasizing the darks and lights.

Step 6: By converting the image to black and white, I "popped" the lights and darks, especially the dewdrops in the dark areas of the photograph.  I then used several plugins and overlays to develop the "metalic" look I wanted.

Note: Although Metalic Rose is recognizable as a rose, is it? Do you see something other than a rose?

The Art of Architectural Photography: Funny How Life Is- Abstracts

Funny how life is. Sometimes, after a long journey I arrive back at the beginning.
Greenwich Village in the late 60s and 70s was a Mecca for artists, who were pushing the boundaries of traditional painting.  Although "modern art" or abstracts had been evolving for some time, during the time (1968-72) I spent at NYU getting my Masters, there was a distinct emphasis on building upon traditional art to find "new" avenues of expression.  In other words, then I diverted from recreating a likeness of the subject and began to focus on unique aspects of the subject and how they could be combined, reverting to my childhood explorations in art: light, tonality, composition, hue, form.  I continued on my new path, working on large abstractions at the Art Students League.  There, I developed a technique in oils that mimicked my fascination with the watercolors I had painted with for years.  Oils as watercolors can inherently abstract as the mediums are so distinctly disparate, in my frame of reference.

Around this time, I also was a structural draftsman and a photographer of a variety of subjects, such as architecture, art, landscape.  In both of drafting and photography clarity, exactitude, perfect execution and the like were and may still be (especially in drafting!) essential to the final outcome.  Wavy lines on a blueprint or soft areas in a photograph were considered sloppy work at best.  It was an interesting juxtaposition: my painting style was extremely lose and my photography/architectural drawing tight. However, my dissimilar artistic endeavors helped me to learn that focus, literal and figurative, is critical when creating. 

Ultimately, I returned to representational painting and continued to create sharp photographs and clean and literal architectural drawings.  I was comfortable working in this way.  For a number of years.  However, sometimes comfort does not promote growth or improvement.  Along the way, I began to feel that my art was becoming formulaic.  I was repeating myself in my work, which for some may be desirable but not for me.  For me, self expression always involved learning, advancing, incorporating new ideas.  My creativity was slowing down, even though I was working harder and producing more than ever before.  However, I did not quite know how to fix it: my elusive aesthetic.

Then, quite by chance, as is often opportune, two things changed my perspective entirely.  Changed me.  I traveled to India, a place like no other I had experienced.  India exposed me to art forms that I could never have imagined and of course invigorated my aesthetic energy.  I fell in love with the fabulous designs, the fairy-tale architecture and the beauty of the landscape in India.  The people of India, I discovered, not only added to India's extraordinary allure but in actuality encompass the allure itself.  The second monumental eye opener for me was when I mistakenly yet fortuitously abstracted a photograph in post-production.  This distortion led me to abstract other photographs, which in turn presented an entirely distinct opportunity to explore my art.  The abstractions I am currently working on have much the same orientation as traditional photography/art.  They simply offer form, composition, values et. al. from a different angle.  It seems like abstracting has also honed my understanding of more traditional ways of creating representational art. Too, I am brought back to an earlier time in my life when creating abstracts seemed exciting and original.  It still does!  

Photography- Jagdish Temple: Udaipur, India

Echoes: Abstract Photgraphy

Passages: Abstract Photography

The Art of Architectural Photography: Tips for Building A Photography Portfolio

A Photography or Art Portfolio is essentially a statement of your work.  The Portfolio represents who you are: the nature of your photography/art; how you express yourself and the medium(s) in which you choose to convey that self-expression.  The are other subtle aspects to the Portfolio; however, the main purpose of a Portfolio, your body of work, is to let viewers know your personal point of view through your work.

In creating a Portfolio, a body of your work, there are a myriad of details that should be included.  Here are but several of the most important components of building your Portfolio to consider:

1.   Who are you?
This may seem self evident; however, although you may understand your point of view, others may not.  And, the work included in your Portfolio must speak for itself as your representative. As you build your Portfolio carefully consider how others will perceive you through the images they see.

In the first place, decide who you are in terms of your work.  Are you a painter, photographer, architect, sculptor. graphic designer?  Or is your Portfolio a reflection of your multiple talents?  I personally would limit my own Portfolio to JUST ONE medium of expression.  It is possible to have various Portfolios or websites, each targeting one of your many forms of expression.  Or you may certainly build one site or Portfolio and divide it according to your specialties.

2.   What are you expressing through your photography?
A critical function of your Portfolio is to express yourself with a clear identity.  When someone looks at your Portfolio, that person should understand who you are as a photographer.
 Are you a floral or bridal photographer?  Are you a photographer who photographs many different subjects in black and white?  Do you do head shots for actors/models?  Portraits?  Sports?  Abstracts?

The moment someone opens your Portfolio, that viewer should understand your Photography Persona.  It is imperative that your audience, whether one person or many, have a clear understanding of your focus.  Build the Portfolio with that in mind.  If you have no specific focus or subject that is the singular theme of your work, and you just love to take pictures, you may become one of a legion of photo takers.  This is FINE.  In that case, lay out your best work and let the photographs speak for themselves.  However, if you are a serious photographer who wants to make a "name/reputation" for yourself in one discipline of photography/art , then it is my recommendation to select the area of photography in which you truly excel and build a Portfolio around that specialty.

3.   Which photographs do I include?
In the case of a photography Portfolio, of course you would want to highlight your best work.  Choose a Portfolio format, whether it be a physical folio or a website, to showcase your photographs.  Much of my photography is conceptualized in a portrait-style format, vertical or even square rather than the horizontal landscape format.  Therefore, my physical book Portfolio is vertical.  Most computer monitors accommodate horizontal or square imagery best and therefore my website is laid out horizontally (a few pages are more squarish); however, the verticals, squares and horizontals are grouped together on separate pages. This allows the viewer to recognize the image shape as a critical aspect of the composition of each photograph. Most of the time, I prefer to show same-theme images that are arranged in similar-size collections to emphasize the importance of subject through its dimensions.  The themes may be place, particular architecture, black and white photography or sepia or color, natural architecture and so forth.
You should consider choosing a style, size and groupings or solo image pages for your "book" and/or website that complement the themes and sizing of your photography. 

It is also important to select complementary photographs to be in proximity with each other.  If you are including many subjects and styles of photographs, place still life together, portraits within their own section, specific themes and so on.  This exhibits the care and thought you give your work.  If you are limiting your book to a speciality area of photography, lay out the images to support and create a dynamic feel as the pages of the Portfolio are turned by your audience.

4.  Finally, the Portfolio is a way to visually communicate with your viewer.  Infuse your passion for photography into your Portfolio.  Express to your viewer your love of the medium and your subject!

Black and White Photography Portfolio pages:

Black and White Photography: Architectural Shapes

Black and White Photography: Vintage Architectural and Details

Black and White Photography: Natural Architecture

The Art of Architectural Photography: Those Boring Midtones?

Working in the monochromatic photographic medium of black and white or sepia can be challenging at times.  In color photography, the midtones, those between the velvet darks and the brilliant lights, can be emphasized with shadings of hue.  For example, a stretch of street in between the deep shadows of a doorway and the bright sunlight down a-ways, might be a cool medium blue/gray or a warm ochre/Naples yellow.  Mixing up some moderately dark/light tone will get the eye from one extreme to the other.  Actually, even if there is a powerful dark area and a searing light, there is a transition midtone between the two to make the realism credible.  Of course, I am excepting abstracts that have their own guidelines.

Shading in realism equates to creating depth and form.  There are a number of midtones that need to be included to create a 3-dimensional effect on a 2-dimensional surface.  The "fun part" is slamming in the darks and illuminating with the lights, but it is the mids that are the unsung heroes, adding space, structure and sparkle to the photograph.  Without the midtones, the darks are flat and the lights become blown out parts of the image.

Where are the midtones?  Actually, they exist everywhere in the image.  They add depth to the shadows and darks and they "pop" the whites. On every edge there is a midtone and all straight lines or curves have mids incorporated into them.  Otherwise, whatever you are presenting appears inanimate.  I learned this from experience and actually from life.  Years ago, I painted from life at the Salmagundi Club in NYC.  It was a small group that met on Saturday evenings to paint or draw from a three hour nude pose.  That way we artists could really study the forms. A good friend of mine and a mentor, the late and very great artist, Alex Fournier, told me that in order to create form, I needed a dark, a light and four different midtones mixed in between.  Try as I might, I could not see the mids.  I could easily recognize the shadow dark and the highlight and something in the middle.  But four distinct middle tones eluded me until one day when I was standing next to a young guy in the subway.  My fellow commuter was wearing a sleeveless tank top as it was summer.  On his muscular arm I saw the six specific tones.  I gasped at this epiphany, quite startling the guy.  Beat red, I apologized and made up some story to dispel the embarrassing (for me) situation. However, once I "got" the midtones, my work became more fluid and contextual.  My paintings and photographs had more depth and form.

Photography is a wonderful medium with which to explore the values of lights, darks and midtones.  Photography is the use of light to create a subject that reflects and/or communicates the photographer's conceptualization.  In effect, light conceives that which you are photographing.  However your use the midtones is always important.  Never boring, the wonderful midtones facilitate, encourage and provide the ability for the darks and lights to achieve their dynamism in the image.

 

Black and White Photography: Catskills, NY

The above photograph, taken in the Catskill region of New York State, shows distinct gray midtones that accentuate the dark foreground trees and the soft whites of the clouds.  The midtones take the eye around the image to give it depth and a pastoral feeling of space.

Black and White Photography: Harlem, NY

This photograph of a train station in Harlem is almost completely made up of gray midtones.  These really "pop" the black and white sign and the train's bright headlights.  The overall midtone composition makes a statement about the subject and also gives the photograph quite a bit of depth.

The Art of Architectural Photography: Homage to Leonard Cohen

The very beautiful lyrics by the genius poet Leonard Cohen in his song "Suzanne" had a profound effect on my visualizations of subjects.  In essence, I believe that Cohen was encouraging his listeners to look for beauty and/or relevance in all things.  It is inconsequential where one finds beauty, in what surroundings, medium or state; the beauty, in and of itself, exists.  At least that is what the song conveyed to me.  And this I have been doing all of my life: looking for the beauty and the relevance.  In any situation or visual I encounter there is relevance or beauty and often both.

Since my last year's trip to India, many people have asked me about conditions there.  Frankly, I saw beauty, history, art and a pervasive truth wherever I went in India.  "Oh," they say, "what about the poverty or the pollution?"  Well, everywhere you may find poverty and pollution if that is what you are looking for or predisposed towards.  I was on a quest for architecture and what I found was so much more.  The negatives will always exist.  It is the positive outlook that yields and yields and yields huge dividends in terms of photography and maybe life.

It should be clarified here that there are photographers whose focus IS the negative aspect of life, such as war, famine, squalor.  To these photojournalists there is fascination in those subjects.  In my lexicon, fascination equates beauty.  Truth is beauty and relevance.  The unbeauty is searching for one thing, such as architecture and turning the lens on a rotting pile of garbage next to an old ruin.  I specifically traveled to India to photograph the marvelous ruin and not a mound of discard that has no relevance for me.  And yes, I do remove the unwanted from my images in a variety of ways.

Ultimately, it's all about perception.  As Leonard Cohen poeticized, if you look, you will find flowers in the detritus.  It's all about seeing.

Temple: Khajuraho, India

In Khajuraho, a special place of temples and monuments, I asked to be taken to a temple that was not a tourist attraction, for there are many, many well-known sights in this small Indian city.  I was taken to an out of the way place in a village within Khajuraho to admire all that remains of a once practicing temple.  It is cordoned off by a wrought iron fence with No Trespassing signs posted everywhere, of course in Hindi.  Animals, weeds and people have overrun the small property despite the barriers.  However, very carefully, stepping through the rubble to get as close as I could get to this magnificent structure, I angled my camera lens through the fence.  The stunningly grand architecture was the focus; the monkeys were a bonus.  

The Art of Architectural Photography: The Ephermeral Permanence of Sepia Photography

Sepia photography has an ephemeral permanence much like watercolor but different.  All in all, that is two oxymorons in one thought; however, there is a fleeting quality about sepia photography just as there is about watercolor.  And though the mediums are quite different, works executed in both watercolor and sepia photography have endured for years.  The sometimes "dreamy," for lack of a better word, quality of sepia connotes a more subtle aspect of time than, let's say black and white photography, whose tonalities appear more definite, more demanding on the eye. Black and white photographs often chronicle time and space, while sepia seems to spread out in more amorphous ways. Whether crisp or soft, black and white has a definite approach to a subject, while sepia appears to be considering the options.  By that I mean a black and white photograph reveals its intentions and sepia requires more examination of its subtly layered tonalities.  That is not to imply that a black and white photograph deserves but a "quick" study.  Not true by any means.  Man Ray's photographs, for example, are ever fascinating and inspiring for me.  I uncover his thoughts through his black and whites and go deeper into the imagination of an artist's creativity that is extraordinary.  And yet, the image is there: fixed.  Even the slightly earlier black and white photography of, let's say Steichen has a "this is it" quality, whether it be foggy NYC or a heavily shadowed portrait.

On the other hand, Atget's sepia street scenes of Paris seem fleeting.  The umber/ochre and sometimes madder colored pigments of sepia photography appear less permanent or tangible than would black/gray/white tones.  The soft, often yellowish lights of sepia are hazier, more downy than even the most luminescent of diffused whites. Many of the very early photographs are sepia-toned.  These seem vintage.  Their "yellowed" coloration from a distinctly different age, while the very early black and whites might be current.  A little more "noise," different clothes and hair styles, antiquated vehicles, but I have an ability to picture myself in the black and whites of C. R. Savage, which feel more substantial in their concreteness than his sepia images.  In all, sepia is also timeless, but its seemingly malleability to accommodate an enormous spectrum of yellow-brown tones is far lass discernible than the equally or even greater abundance of grays between the darkest blacks and most radiant whites.  Sepia is a monochrome like black and white, but its ephemeral qualities create an added component of pigmentation that gives sepia photography its distinctive uniqueness.  

Here are three examples of monochromatic photography, taken in India and remastered in my studio.  The first is a black and white photograph.  The second a type of "negative" effect of the first black and white architectural photograph.  The third is the same image translated into sepia.  The place is Mumbai, India and through the waves of heat, rising out of tropical vegetation are the spires and arches of Mumbai's architecturally elegant University.

Black and White Photography: Mumbai University, India

Black and White "Negative" Photography : Mumbai University, India

Sepia Photography: Mumbai University, India

     

The Art of Architectural Photography: Light the Lights!

As I always maintained, my passion for photography, architecture, art is all about the light.  By nature the flip side, the rich, deep darks are also an essential part of my love of light.  This fascination with light all began early in my life.  Movies played a big part of it because they literally lit up the darkened screen and theater.  There on the lighted screen, wonderful visuals would unfold. I remember seeing Walt Disney's Fantasia for the first time. Fireflies, dew drops, moonbeams and snow flakes twinkled with light as delightful music counterpointed the scenes.  To an impressionable four-year-old, Fantasia was and very much still is an inspiration to impel me to create using light.

Too, I was raised in an older house, one that dated from the "gas-jet" lighting era that was well before my time.  The jets were electrified and the old fashioned fixtures remained.  Blossoming out of patinaed brass sconce arms, delicately crafted, hand-blown and fancifully etched glass globes were a  romantic source of light for narrow hallways and steep stairs.  Radiating from these vintage lamps, shadows of tracery decorated the walls and floors in designs that seemed magical.  And too, there was natural light with its influences.  My Brooklyn neighborhood was lush with trees.  My childhood bedroom window looked out onto nature's fretwork of branches and leaves.  The ever shifting lights and darks made a powerful impression on me.

As a youngster I drew and painted what I saw, especially architecture.  I photographed with my Brownie and relished the exploratory aspects of viewing subjects through the lens.  However, this passion for light was as yet undefined and not a conscious focus in my photography and painting.  The light subliminally found its way into my images to give form and depth to the subjects. Although I took art classes in high school and prepared a portfolio for college, I concentrated on composition, form, line, design and the other mandates of tradition. And other influences continually impacted my work as art evolved during the 1960s and 70s.  It was a time of change and there was a lot to focus on, as I believe that the "new" should be, at the very least, noted.  The light was always there, but its profound importance eluded me until one specific moment.

In addition to my devotion to photography and other arts, I have always found the sciences deeply appealing, in particular the natural sciences. Shorelines, forests, fields, mountains provide an infinite number of resources for the photographer.  Whatever architecture humans create, however unique and exquisite in design, nature's architecture is unsurpassed for the majestically imperial that at once seems quite possible.  With this mindset I took a geology class in college.  On a field trip to a cave that was known for unusual rock formations, I saw something so personally important that I am forever indebted to Geology 101.  The cave was dark and musty.  At one point I stepped into a puddle that spilled water into my sneaker.  As a natural reaction I looked up to locate the source of the wet.  Through a small slit in the rock ceiling of the cave fell a single sunlit drop. A tiny brilliance in the dark. The sight of this magical illumination caused me to consider light in an entirely different way. The light made all the difference.

I now use light as the most critical part of my work.  Light defines, forms, describes.  Its properties are one of the single most important parts of a photograph or artwork.  The pictures I took on my travels in India use light in disparate ways.  Some are of diffused, soft light to complement the antiquity of a work of architecture or monument.  Some are full of hard-light contrasts to emphasize stone carvings or cavernous structures.  In all my photography my use of light expresses my aesthetic feelings about my subject.  Creating with light calls to mind the droplet of brilliance in the cave that gave light a whole new meaning for me.

Creating with light: black and white architectural photography from my upcoming book about my trip to India.  In each black and white photograph, my feeling about the specific work of architecture is expressed through the lens of light.

Afghan Church: Mumbai, India

Nagda Temple: Udaipur, India

Jama Masjid: Agra, India

Temple Interior: Khajuraho, India

The Art of Architectural Photography: Sharing the Passion

From a personal perspective, I always thought that a passion is something to be shared rather than kept to one's self.  When my children were small, I used to take them to the NYC places I was passionate about and, with a captive audience, I would share my delight in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, the Metropolitan Museum, Central Park and the architectural wonders I love around the city.  Going to Rockefeller Center to see the Art Deco buildings, the powerful Atlas statue and the very beautiful Deco building ornamentations was always a high point for me, as was introducing my children to other marvels.  Sharing my passions about photography, architecture and art with my young children was a wonderful way to express myself to them.  And we still enjoy outings to share; often now that they are adults, I am happy to be included in what my children are passionate about as well as my grandchildren's excitement over their special interests.  New, dynamic and fascinating worlds open up for me as they share their passion for Lego, Minecraft and Skylanders, tennis, ever evolving animation in film, Rainbow Loom art and craft and so many other pursuits.

Years ago I painted from life with a small group in Greenwich Village.  The feeling of sharing our passion for painting during the three hour poses was definitely one of my most significant inspirations.  The sharing of ideas about form, design, composition, color, technique at the level of passion artists come together over a subject is a rare feeling: a tangible expression of ardor towards a shared goal of creating.  Each week we convened to paint a new model with the excitement that had built up for the next pose, the next subject, the next masterpiece we might produce.  Since those days, I have joined other groups of those who are passionate about photography, architecture and art.  The sharing of passions continues and brings me energy and enthusiasm when my own projects seem to need some inspiration.  I come away from a meeting of shared passions and my batteries are recharged: I am inspired to create and renew my work with even more investment of self expression.

Throughout my recent travels in India, I was able to share my passion for photography with people whom I had never previously met but came into contact with in that extraordinarily beautiful country.  The guides and drivers on the trip were excited to show me the places I had determined before I arrived in each new place.  We shared a fervor for each new sight and often guides would use their cell phones to shoot an image to show me how they thought a shot should be taken, a subjected pictured, a focus of a monument or building.  I deeply appreciated these insights because I was learning a cultural point of view: one with which I was unfamiliar.  Too, I met other photographers in India, from Brazil, China, Portugal and, naturally, India.  Conversations flowed easily for we share the passion for photography, of capturing that which we see to each express it in our own way. The shared passion of photography vanquished cultural, language and all other barriers that might have stood in the way of immediate friendships.  We were all immersed in the marvels of India and all experiencing the joy of expressing, through photography, our wonder at the architecture, art, landscape, colors, design and above all the Indian people, who personify centuries of exquisite tradition.

I am delighted to share my passion for architectural and travel photography at Berger Bros. in Huntington, Long Island on January 18, 2017.  I hope you will join me to share your own passion for photography!



For more information please visit:  www.berger-bros.com/classes/january/01-18-17-architectural-travel-photography/