The Art of Architectural Pgotography 4-26-2015

Novoimago is photography that is printed on fine art paper and augmented with fine art material including charcoal, pencil, ink and gold leaf.

Throughout my years as a photographer, architectural draftsman and fine art painter, I have infused my work with the originality that expressed my aesthetic.  From my most technical architectural drawings to the oil painting abstractions I created, each focused on my continuing experience with art, my desire for excellence and my hope to reach the next level.  My passion for art has taken me on a journey that encouraged sharing my vision combined with my observations about the world with others.  It is this odyssey that brought me to the photographic art of Novoimago.

As an architectural photographer I appreciate the art that the architect creates.  I also admire the craftspeople, builders and designers of the architecture.  However, when I photograph a building, I seek to imprint my own aesthetic on it.  Working in black and white and sepia photography I am able to portray the architecture while focusing on what about it appeals to me.  I can also emphasize the features of the architecture I want to share with others through the black and white and sepia photographic medium.  The art of Novoimago allows me to go beyond the two-dimensional photograph by layering the image with fine art materials to create a third dimension.  In using such traditional fine art materials as pencil, charcoal, inks and gold leaf in the photograph, I give each image the element of depth and light that cannot be achieved through photography alone. 

Novoimago is a picture that incorporates my life’s work of architectural photography, fine art painting and architectural drawing into one photographic artwork.  Each image engages the viewer in an aesthetic experience that goes beyond traditional photography, architecture and art into a realm of subtle beauty and enhancement of form, design, and light. 

Novoimago: Black and White Architectural Photography with Fine Art Media

The Art of Architectural Photography 4-12-2015

Looking through the camera's lens, I often discern distortions, aberrations and abstractions.  These are marvelous because they spark my imagination. On a daily basis I look at the world as most people do: what is there, is there and I notice it as I pass by. The big things stand out and mostly the little ones are lost.  Although I am observant and do sometimes find the details, perhaps more than most people because that is my profession, I as everyone else, am rushing around to the next.  I miss many things in the process.  But they magically appear in the lens of my camera or in the images I download onto my computer screen.

Especially night photography produces many overlooked details a scene may have. I am not, per say a night photographer, but like many people I find darkness beautiful and mysterious.  I try to capture the mood and the ever elusive night time details once in awhile.  In this instance, I was going to an event near Central Park in NYC.  I had a tight time schedule and, of course I was rushing.  However, the bright, defused lights in the fretwork of bare tree branches in the Park captivated me.  Out came my walking-around, small Lumix and I began to shoot.  Through the lens I saw the powerful diagonal of light and reflection in the composition.  And when I downloaded the images, I discovered the spiderweb configuration of the branches.

Black and White Photography

Photographing a scene, building or what-have-you may provide captured forms and the finer points that go unnoticed as we hurry through life.

For more information visit:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/night-photography.htm
https://ia.net/know-how/learning-to-see

The Art of Architectural Photography 4-7-2015

Art is all about seeing forms, textures, design, composition, line and other aesthetics that spark imagination and intrigue.  I find that when photographing architecture,  the camera's lens allows me to notice details that may be unapparent when I simply look at a structure.  Further, when I download my images to my computer, there are frequently wonderful surprises.

One day last fall, I visited the New York Zoological Society or, as I've always referred to this fascinating place, the Bronx Zoo.  As a child, I journeyed to the Zoo a few times from Brooklyn, quite a distance away.  In those years, the three-subway-train-trip was quite an outing.  Later, when I  married and moved in with my Bronx native husband, you could find me at the Zoo at least twice a week: sketching and photographing the architecture, animals, landscaping and even the visitors.  The Zoo was and remains a magnificent example of late 19th Century ingenuity and sublime space in an otherwise crowded and sometimes downtrodden NYC Borough.

I walked through cobbled or intricately paved paths that are fringed with an abundance of lovely shrubbery and topped by towering ancient trees of many varieties.  Birds and small animals, such as chipmunks roam freely about.  Here and there buildings that are splendidly constructed with stately lines and a wealth of stone carved ornamentation appear.

This building is majestically welcoming.  As I walked towards it I saw architectural details from another age.  Currently these are eschewed as unnecessary or much too costly with which to facade buildings.  Another great surprise was looking up in the interior of the building: a decorative BRICK ceiling!  The fancy brickwork, alternating with the circles of translucent glass create a design that is both aesthetically pleasing and superbly crafted.  Although I have admired this ceiling many times, I always appreciate it anew.  Brickwork today is often found in sheets of brick facing.  How marvelous to see bricks used so creatively!

Black and White Architectural Photography

Sepia Architectural Photography

 To learn more about the New York Zoological Society and Brickwork visit:

 http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/19/realestate/streetscapes-the-bronx-zoo-animal-house-landmarks.html


http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/Resources/Trades/carpentry/Building01/default.asp?iNum=0704

http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/brick/brickwork.html