The Sandscapes series is a work in progress - one that I imagine will continue for many years - and these images form the first 'chapter'. In this part, my ideas and plates come together to produce slightly surreal images and more abstract textural studies. When I began photographing the beach, it was natural given my interest in textures and organic compositions, that I should extend the work
The Sandscapes series is a work in progress - one that I imagine will continue for many years - and these images form the first 'chapter'. In this part, my ideas and plates come together to produce slightly surreal images and more abstract textural studies. When I began photographing the beach, it was natural given my interest in textures and organic compositions, that I should extend the work and develop it by turning the photographs into photo-etchings. This allows me to intensify the 'layering' of textures: sand, water, printing plate, ink and paper all combine to lock a moment in time. These however, are not conventional landscapes. Scales and perspectives are ambiguous, turning small details into surreal aerial views. Even when it does not involve people, I classify most of my artwork as surreal portraits. I take familiar subjects and manipulating them ever so slightly to make a different view of the world. When I talk about manipulating, I don't mean by using a computer, I mean by taking a photograph close-up, a different angle or physically cutting into the image. By focusing on certain details, and enhancing the subtleties that the viewer would not have notice before. As the series has progressed I have found that I have been able to combine individual images in different ways to different effect. I feel that these abstract landscapes is the language of the shore, it is conveying a message of what the ocean is up to.
