Luminosem

Hobby Artist/Photographer

Photography is an investigation. For me it is a study of both subject and technology. For several years, I worked primarily in spherical panoramic photography - environmental portraiture in which I sought to put context to activity, and show artifice within reality. With the release of the Lytro first generation field of light camera I inverted that perspective, moving from broad-scope, unflinchingly comprehensive images to tightly constrained works that played with variable depth in a very narrow field of view. Learning to use the camera – learning its idiosyncrasies as well as its features – lead to more experimentation, and ultimately to my subject matter. With this series “Bodies of Light” human form is the only context, and within it I seek to develop a new topology of abstract as well as structural relations.

All of the images are captured under identical studio conditions – a single point light source, an entirely black field - only the models change. All of the models were volunteers drawn to the project by sample works, an interest in participating in the project and in seeing how they, themselves would be revealed.

The final images have been desaturated to mitigate color rendition, and vignetted to enhance the ethereal quality of the subject, but little retouching has been done, allowing the bodies to reveal themselves in a way that is unusual in much photography today.

The images are sometimes abstract, sometimes explicit, but tend to be more evocative than suggestive. They demonstrate beauty in small detail as well as the whole of the human form.

The original images are only 1084 pixels square. They are printed at four inches square – an appropriate size for these intimate works.

I have previously been a member of Joyclub under the pseudonym: "Seeking Muse". I have returned because I am looking for a few more subjects to fill in critical gaps in my project portfolio.