Mind's Eye: Inspiration

As a new contributor to the POE blog I will be concentrating my efforts on showing off some of the POE's best abstract and manipulated images.  I love everything about Abstract art in any form.  I know it's not for everyone and I have spent many hours talking to my father about how it isn't all "rubbish".  Besides appealing graphical details, the idea(s) behind each work is highly important to intriguing the viewer.  Manipulated photography can purposefully create an idea, a mood.  It can make us forget that it takes skill and work to not just take a photo but create a photo.  Abstract and manipulated photography can not only draw the viewer into the image, but into the imagination of its creator.

One of the philosophies I maintain is that art is everywhere I look.  A speckled ground can make me think of Jackson Pollock, aged paint flaking off a wall reminds me of Clyfford Still.  From abstract expressionists to painters of the impressionist period, masterpieces can be found ready to shoot in any location at any moment.  Well, here, allow me to show you what I mean...

Take for example this photo, "Mixed Cultures" by our very own POE member UNIkalinka.  It instantly made me think of the painter Morris Louis.  Just one more reason to check out UNIkalinka's shop!

In another example, PhotogenicGallery's "A Poppy Eye Viewpoint" incorporates soft focus of the red petals and sharp, focused detail of the dark center to create an image reminiscent of "Poppy by Georgia O'Keeffe.

I had to look twice and read the description to make sure that this next work was in fact a photograph.  The high contrast and crisp detail look so much like a line drawing.  Photopia has described her photo "Abstract Architecture" as "Escher-ish" and I couldn't agree more.

Although the beautiful color field photos of FrancesPhotography remind me of Mark Rothko, I have to admit that I love these photos even more than the masterpieces that hang in museums all over the world.  I don't just love these photos for their graphical detail and color choices, but also because I can't quite figure out how much of these photos were from her natural surroundings and straight shooting, and how much was altered digitally if at all.  These photos, such as "Journey II" featured below, pull me in and allow my mind's eye to wander and wonder much more than the very famous works of Rothko and other color field masters.

Inspiration's like these can also be seen in manipulated photos.  In the digital darkroom it's possible to re-create the mood and styles of famous work such as Andy Warhol's silk-screened images (below, right).  Claudia Lord's "Daisies 3" is done in just such a way (below, left).

In this final example, PrettyPetalStudios has manipulate her image "The Tree" in such a way as to create an antique appearance and the feel of a drawing/painting.  I wonder if she thought of this Japanese print as much as I did when she was creating it.

Photography does such a great job of holding moments still and capturing everyday beauty.  Inspiration can pop up on any street corner while waiting for a bus, on the wall of a building close to where we work, or outside our home... it's everywhere and it's just a matter of noticing and creating our own masterpieces.

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Anika Toro lives in TN with her new baby, husband, and two naughty cats.  She loves taking photos every moment of every day.  She shares her photography in her shop, on her blog, and invites you to collaborate.