Warm and fuzzy, or begs a question?
The subtitle pretty much defines the primary perceptions I have of art.
When I view an image my initial reaction tends to answer the subtitle question.
Some images evoke a pleasant reaction from your visual senses. I use the phrase ‘warm and fuzzy’ to describe that reaction. Non-threatening, it makes you feel good, and maybe puts a smile on your face.
Begs a question is the other sensory response that challenges the mind and causes you to look closer.
Looking at an image and wanting to know more is a reaction shared by many.
Nature and landscape photography can generate a great deal of satisfaction for the photographer. It can also produce endless warm and fuzzy images that are pleasant to the viewer. I know this area well. My photographic library is stocked with many hundreds of these types of images.
At some point around 2008, after a couple of decades of shooting nature and landscape and getting a little bored with it, I found the need to be photographically challenged at a higher level.
I liked the concept of an image begging a question.
The trigger to start experimenting with composites was probably the encounter with Jerry Uelsmann’s incredible photography. It defines photographic creativity. Every piece begs a question.
And so it began, down the road towards a different level of image creation.
While a lot of composition planning is required for even some of the most basic nature and landscape photography, the creation of composite imagery demands another level of creativity, focus, and patience.
The challenge is most refreshing.
