Ukiyo-e

For a little while now I have been studying and appreciating the Japanese art form of ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”). These were woodblock prints and paintings that were made during the 17th to 19th centuries and which had at their core a beautiful simplicity that I am very drawn towards.

In this genre of art I am especially excited by the nature themed works which emphasize line and form. . I have made several prints of images that were inspired by these poetic artworks and have been pleased with the response to them.

During my last trip to Maine, I made a bird image that I feel is consistent with the overall feeling of ukiyo-e, at least the way I have been inspired by it. In this image, made near Portland Head Light, I am emphasizing simplicity with repetition of line broken up by the more organic form of the bird. The print will be made as a black and white image on Epson Enhanced Matte paper at a size of approximately 10×14. The 16×20 framed price is set at $200 to start and includes UV-protective, Reflection-control glass. The edition will be limited to 100 in this size and 150 overall.

(c) 2014 Paul Grecian – Photography

Quiet, Please……….

Among the images I made in Maine this past trip (August), there is one in particular which I think speaks to a sense of quiet. At least that is how it strikes me. It is the type of image I am making more and more, one with only a few elements where the mood is more important than the objects in the piece.

What this image consists of are really just two partial birch trees, a small sail boat, water, and a horizon line. There is some structure to the sky, but mostly it is white. This is an image I saw in my head first. From the position in which I was originally, I saw the sailing boat moving slowly and I visualized the two trees acting as framing devices. I was using a Panasonic lens which covered equivalent focal lengths of 28-280mm so I could have framed this image in many ways. I chose a focal length of around 90mm which isolated the trees but still kept the boat small enough to not overwhelm the image. Keeping the boat low in the frame emphasizes the trees and sky, which adds to a feeling of calm. The water is also calm. The boat is framed to be moving toward the edge of the image which keeps it from being thought about too much as the story. The tonalities and colors are soft and cool. I also opening up (lightened) the shadows to lower the contrast.

I think it is an image you can get a bit lost in……….

(c) 2014 Paul Grecian

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Simplicity Rules

For my current two-person show at Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville NJ, I had a new image which I titled A Ripple, A Blade of Grass. It is an image of grasses and their reflections in Jordan Pond. I converted the original color image into a black and white and then applied a sepia tone. The print is on Epson Enhanced Matte paper to emphasize the softness of the light. I was working on a rainy day, very overcast with an Olympus E5 and Olympus 50-200mm lens (both totally weather proof for these kind of conditions).

The framed version (print #1) sold to a couple who were drawn to the Zen-like feeling of the image. I appreciated their remarks to me so much that I want to share them.

“We were both really moved by the piece and are excited to display it in our home.  It’s ironic when I think about how I felt when I first caught a glimpse of it – I felt so excited and elated, which might seem a little silly given the Zen like nature of the image you’ve captured.  But I’ve been studying a lot about mindfulness and being present in the moment, and your work was the first piece I’ve seen that, to me, perfectly represents that state of being.  I love the way you’ve edited it down to the barest essentials, and yet it still feels so powerful.  I could gush more about it, but I’ll save you from having to read a novel about how much I enjoy the piece!”

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Maine on My Mind

This past Saturday (April 12) was the reception for my two-person show with Michael Schweigart at Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville, NJ. I was pleased with the response to my work for this show as it represents a different side of my style. The images I included were more subdued and even monochromatic. Several pieces are actually black & white with a sepia toning as the only color. In some ways the work is more textual and minimalist than other work I’ve shown at the gallery. It’s not so much a departure from my usual offerings as much as an emphasis on this aspect of my work.

 

Two collectors in front of my work at AG

One more night…………….

I’ve occasionally been printing in a more panoramic format of 7×14 inches in the last year. Certain images I’ve made with this 2:1 proportion represent the feeling of the experience more closely than my typical 3:2 ratio. This image made during my last clear night in Acadia National Park is an example of one I feel is best suited to the 2:1 ratio.

I’ve always enjoyed a deep black in my prints, especially when they involved a silhouette. The star filled sky allows for the clear outline of the various trees to be seen, something that is critical for a silhouette image. I’ve also composed to include a slight dip in the line of trees to keep the “horizon” from being boringly straight. I especially enjoy that many stars can be seen through the rather empty tree canopy where leaves are absent.

For this image I used a Nikon D800 with Nikkor 16-35mm f4 ED lens. I exposed the image for approx. 30 seconds, wide open at an ISO of 3200.

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian

 

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The Struggle……….

One of the things I find so compelling about Acadia National Park is the variety of habitats and diversity of life that somehow survive in what seems like pretty tough conditions. As a biologist, I understand how these niches can support life, but as an artist I see the same subjects as metaphors  for struggle and the fight to survive.

In this image, the tree is literally between a rock and a hard place and yet seemingly thrives in this harsh micro-habitat. The contrasts in this image relate not just to animate and inanimate, but also hard and soft, light and dark, textured and smooth, round and amorphous. It’s these contrasts or dynamic elements of a subject that add an emotional chord to an image.

This image was made on one of my favorite short hikes in Acadia around a tarn. I made the image handheld which is something I’ve only more recently begun to do. I was working with an Olympus OMD-EM5 and a Panasonic 14-140mm F4-5.8 lens closed down slightly. This is a very portable combination of camera and lens which allows me to work more fluidly and spontaneously especially when the conditions require me to have a hand free to maneuver through boulders

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian

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Artistic Process

The artistic process differs from medium to medium and is of course a never-ending learning process. As an artist working in the medium of photography, I cannot help but compare my medium and process to others. I find it both helpful in understanding my own medium but also in growing with it. And although I have been working in digital format for almost 10 years, the medium still feels new to me.

There is one aspect of working in digital format  that may be more important than any other. Unlike working with film, having immediate feedback on the camera’s LCD means being able to respond both to the scene in front of me and to the image I just created. And so as in painting, sculpture, or even composing music, I can analyse the result and adjust the process to do things differently.

Mostly, people think of that feedback as a way of checking that the camera is working correctly and that the image reflects what was desired. That is helpful, but maybe even more important is that the image itself becomes a new thing to which I can respond. Just as a painter lays down a brush stroke and then responds to how that brush stroke changes their feeling about where to lay down the next brush stroke, the photographer can respond to an LCD display of an image to determine what next direction to take.

In the image below that I made in Acadia National Park this past August, I was able to respond to the image I made as separate from the scene in which I was working. The image I made then could send me in a different direction than the scene itself would have.  As a result I could respond by changing focal length, perspective, polarization, exposure, composition, and if I chose to, also white-balance and application of a variety of other camera-based controls. The immediate feedback offered by the camera’s LCD allows me to be more creative in the field and ultimately with the final print.

This image was made with a Panasonic GH2 with an Olympus 9-18mm m4/3 lens at 18mm hand-held.

Cloud and Grasses, (c) 2012 Paul Grecian

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The Maine Thing – Day 8

During the evening of our last day in Maine I walked outside my friend’s house and was struck by the most star-filled night sky I’ve ever seen. There was a very clear Milky Way and a tremendous number of stars. Having done some night image making before, I immediately set up the tripod and camera for some long exposures. The sky was great, but I wanted something more in the image. I needed something to ground it.

Composing at night can be tough, but I knew anything I included other than sky would be in silhouette. Well, anything except an alternate light source or something reflecting that light source.

My daughter had just gone up to her room and turned on her light. My first thought was to have her turn it off. Then I realized that the window would be a great addition, as would the warm incandescent light. This image was made with a Canon Eos 5D Mark II and Canon EF 17-40mm f4.0 L lens. I used an electronic cable release, and in Bulb setting counted to 30 in my head.

Window to the Night Sky (c) 2012 Paul Grecian

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The Maine Thing – Day 7

At this point in our trip to Maine we were staying with friends who recently bought a house just outside of Acadia. My friend Mark is a highly accomplished photographer and has a nice bit of land that attracts some local wildlife.

The Red Squirrels around his property are a bit crazy. They are very territorial and quite vociferous. They are also pretty cute and have a lot of character. This image was made handheld with a Canon 7D and Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L Mark II with Canon TC2x III.

Red Squirrel, Maine

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The Maine Thing – Day 6

Day 6 in Maine was fairly overcast, perfect for hiking in wooded areas. The image below was made on a trail starting at Jordan Pond. The trails are mostly for hiking, but also horse-riding and offer wonderful views of rather pristine woodland. What really amazed me was how interwoven  the Plant-life is with the geology. Trees were growing out of stone and even in the nooks of other trees! For example, I saw several fir trees growing out of  bifurcations in birch trees.

For this hike I selected to use a light weight Micro-Four-thirds system again. In this case it was the Panasonic GH2 with an Olympus 9-18mm lens (equivalent to an 18-36mm in 35mm format). Compositionally, I am using the trees to frame the distant view. From a color standpoint, this is a monochromatic piece, so I am emphasizing the different tonalities of green (as I would with grays were this a black-and-white image).

View from trail near Jordan Pond

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