Happenstance Crossing As people cross the road entering Piccadilly Circus, an elaborate camera movement drags colour and texture across the scene. Fortuitously balancing static and stationary with photographic and painterly elements.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III 33mm F / 20 1 / 50s ISO200
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Fine Art in the Streets
my photographs are created on site and in-camera. It is crucial to me that they are not re-worked in any image software. Only adjustments to light, dark and cropping are made on computer afterwards. Eavch one is made using a technique that contradicts the proper functionality requirements for High Dynamic Range imagery.”
Michael Lee is a British visual artist, living and working in London. Photography was always a passion and mainly served to inform Michael’ s painting. Michael taught as a full time art teacher before travelling Asia and training in oil painting. He returned to the UK, working as an art and photography teacher while studying a Masters Degree in Fine Art at Middlesex University. NOOPUR SHARMA from Chiiz gets in talks with Lee. Below is an exceprt.
In what genre would you like to put your photography? If it is street, then what is your concept of street photography? I would like my work to be considered fine art and / or abstract photography. In truth, it probably occupies a space between those genres. My street photography is about capturing the energy, vibrancy and essence of a place rather than the telling of a particular story.
Your photographs are like a set of paintings that seem to be in motion within themselves. Is it something that you are trying to make a point with? Drawing upon and referencing painting is central to my practice. Exploring the painterly qualities of my photographic technique has always been a driving force for me. It is the fact that the photographs are generated through real events, my performance and the camera, as opposed to on a blank canvas that I find so exciting.
What is the technique you use? How do you process them on site? I shoot in HDR mode where the camera automatically combines three consecutive exposures. Typically for HDR, one ought to keep the camera as still as possible to avoid peculiarities, however, I will look to perverse this by introducing elaborate camera movements and shooting moving subjects.
Something that inspired you to pick up that
Michael Lee brush and that camera? I have an innate desire to create. I find immense satisfaction and sense of accomplishment making something I can be proud of. Originally, I had only seen photography as a means to inform my painting, however these days it is the other way round.
When a person starts with photography, it is generally the street photography. What should he look for in his pictures and why? Typically, a narrative. I am most interested in seeing a personalised aesthetic to illustrate the narrative.
Since developing a unique technique for creating abstracted photographs, he now only paints with his lens, though painting greatly influences and inspires his photography. Michael has exhibited widely across London, the UK and Europe. He is represented by galleries in the UK and Italy.
Noopur Sharma noopur @ chiiz. com
Noopur Sharma, is a content writer whose articles have appeared in Asian School of Media Studies newspaper and others. She has worked as a Public Relation Executive for Bang On Target PR and Media solutions, and is a blogger on social media as well.
Vol 7
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