Mind's Eye - Characters

I love a good story.  I especially love it when that story is told by a photographer, and especially when it’s shown by an abstract or manipulated photograph.  For November’s Mind’s Eye post I would like to draw your attention to some of Etsy’s finest artists – to photographers who are superb at creating stories through creating great characters.

With photography, a good character can be enough to create an entire tale.   Although the bodies of work from the following artists are created with precision and brilliant editing, these photos don’t take themselves too seriously.   As a viewer, I like that.  That’s not to say that these stories are not compelling.  They are!  The images are easy to enjoy, rich with well thought out characters and interesting compositions.  I am able to be whisked away into their imaginations upon first glance.  Any questions that the image may leave you wondering are answered with a simple title.  Upon seeing one photo from each of the following story tellers I found myself wanting to see more.  All of these photographers have created a compelling body of work with a consistent feel, unique perspective, and masterful technique.  I encourage you to visit their shops and see more of what makes them each so special.

Emporium 51

From left to right: "An Oblivious Wonderment", "Theodore W. Elwood", "The Nebulous Duo"

Matchstick Girl
"And She Grew and She Grew" and "Little Red Riding Hood"

Dongedyframe
Top left to right: "Too Easy" and "Faith or the Guardian Angel"
Bottom left to right: "Sugar Sugar" and "Crop Circle"

  Alice Lily
"I Am My Own" and "Toy Soldiers"

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"Mind's Eye", by Anika Toro, is a monthly post focusing on abstract and manipulated photography. Anika lives in TN with her baby, husband, and two naughty cats. She loves taking photos every moment of every day.

Anika shares her photography in her shop, on her blog, and invites you to collaborate.

Mind's Eye - All Hallows Eve

For this month’s post I thought it would be appropriate to show off some of the POEs finest spooky imagery.   Manipulated and abstract photography lend themselves perfectly to creating scary accidental creations, crafting nightmarish ghost stories,  and altering beautiful images into eerie wonders.  Whether it be light leaks, grainy/vintage textures, hazy lighting, or multiple exposures, this genre of photography can conjure up the spookiest and most haunting creations imaginable.  For this special Halloween edition enjoy the tricks these manipulated images whip up and allow them to treat your imagination.  Happy Halloween! 

One need not be a chamber to be haunted; One need not be a house; The brain has corridors surpassing Material place.  

~ Emily Dickinson

Both images by Deborah Noyes.  "Are you sure you want to come upstairs?" and  "Sitting Pretty"

Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.     

~Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

 Both images by Gothicrow.  "In Dreams I Walk with You"  and "Dusk"

 Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen 

Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!" 

~Dexter Kozen

 "A wicked wind will blow the ribbons from your curls" by Dream by Day

"Moonlight meeting of the Beauty and the Beast" by Shashamane

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.   

~ George Carlin

 "Window Scene" by Rrobertsphoto

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.  

~Henry David Thoreau

"Pumpkin" by Erin Reynolds

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"Mind's Eye", by Anika Toro, is a monthly post focusing on abstract and manipulated photography.  Anika lives in TN with her baby, husband, and two naughty cats.  She loves taking photos every moment of every day.  

Anika shares her photography in her shop, on her blog, and invites you to collaborate.

Mind's Eye - Stories

I love that, as a viewer, photography allows me to see into the imagination of someone else.  This is particularly the case with manipulated imagery.  Whether altered in the camera or in the darkroom, photographers use specific framing, lighting, and editing to tell their story.  I agree that this is the case with most photography - the subject matter is based on what the photographer chooses; the framing of the photo is most often deliberate.  But with manipulated photography the decisions are often made before seeing a particular subject.  Lighting, layering of images, and additions/subtractions are precise in order to build a story and convey something that can become even more than a photograph.

Here are a few stories to share, enjoy.

"Couple" by ValeriaH

 "Reach for the Moon" by mkcphotography

"Painting My Dreams" by Stephmel

"Early Morning Dreams" by 1000beautifulthings

"Plastic Windows" by lightleaks

"Catching the Star" by Dongedyframe

"Release" by Zseike

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"Mind's Eye", by Anika Toro, is a monthly post focusing on abstract and manipulated photography.  Anika lives in TN with her baby, husband, and two naughty cats.  She loves taking photos every moment of every day.  

Anika shares her photography in her shop, on her blog, and invites you to collaborate.

Mind's Eye - Manipulated Memories

Photography is the ultimate tool for preserving memories.  For many it’s also a wonderful tool for creating the feel of memories.  What a powerful ability a photographer has to make that feeling.  It takes a thoughtful technique and a great sense of imagination to intentionally create an image that makes another person respond personally.  With manipulated photography an artist can evoke a sentimental quality that whispers something of our own past. A deliberate twist of contrast, a particular use of lighting, sandwiching images, a selective use of focus, added text - these manipulations can propel the viewer into something powerfully nostalgic.  Now, there are images, for example, of beaches that make me think of my own times at the beach.  There are cityscapes that remind me of my own experiences too.  But what I am referring to now are images that are unrelated to my human experience and yet somehow feel familiar.  The images feel like the past.  Here are a few images with the ability to do just that.

 Shade by saranorris

Amish House Doorway by firstlightphoto

mkendall's Pewter Angles and Silent Butterscotch

Waiting by violetbellaphoto

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Mind's Eye is a monthly post by Anika Toro.  Anika 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.

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.