[Perception]

It might sound like a paradox, but taking an extreme close up of an object actually transcends our usual perception of it. This is the beauty of Macro Photography. It encourages the viewer to utilize a wider range of cognitive awareness to see what is not commonly revealed.

Most objects are only fleetly observed as we undertake our daily duties and they enter our consciousness as fundamental signs. Therefore, we may pass a garden and mentally register a flower by its relationship and opposition to other phenomenon. However, without stopping to look more closely, we would find it difficult to add further definition to that flower other than attaching superficial variables such as color, species or size. Our everyday existence is routinely limited to generalizations and a more direct and penetrating perception of the forms we encounter is seldom realized.  Even, “I saw a really beautiful flower today”, is a rhetorical expression in as much as it adds nothing to our established conception except the notion of ‘beauty’, which is ultimately relative and without definite meaning.

What macro photograph does, however, is challenge both the preconceived visual signs and the passive awareness with which we commonly view an object. By focusing on an extremely limited detail, an alternative way of perceiving is abstracted from the form. So we find a luminous jungle at the center of a small orchid. Or a tiny five millimeter bud lost in an ocean of blue (which is, in reality, an optical illusion created by unnaturally reduced depth of field). 

In my opinion, Macro achieves what all good photography should. That is, it offers an alternative representation of the concrete world rather than simply illustrating that which is easily perceived by the naked eye. The viewer is encouraged to re-evaluate their predetermined conceptions by entering an alternative vision which transforms the usual signs by way of extreme closeness. 

Putting the semiotic critique aside, there is another aspect of this photographic genre that can be appreciated more by the photographer that the viewer. Because of the minimal focal range involved when opening the aperture of the macro lens to f2.8, a slight movement in either the camera or the subject will result in a shifting of focus. At such close proximity, this shift will produce completely different images. This means that the majority of Macro Photography is what the Dada artists of the 1930s referred to as a ‘happy accident’. We can take numerous shots of a single object and confirm the results on the camera display, but it is not until we upload the images onto a larger computer screen that we can truly observe the details and accuracy of focus. If we were photographing a flower, for example, some shots might show a petal or stigma in sharp focus, while others accentuate a filament or even just a drop of water on an anther.

Regardless of the amount of foresight or planning one may put into the execution of a macro shot, the final result depends primarily (and wonderfully) on chance. This chaotic randomness is what makes Macro Photography a unique and fulfilling art form. So go out and try for yourself this method of getting away from reality by getting closer to it.

[Persona]

Having been involved in the Art world in one way or another for the past 30 years, I realize the importance of individual style that is necessary in order to achieve any kind of recognition. People like to identify an artist with their art, so if we create images in every genre, using as many different techniques as possible, we start to appear too irresolute and non-committal. Therefore, we develop an Artist Persona through which the world can identify and critique us.

I developed my Painting Persona by the third year of my studies at art school. It was based primarily on the early influences in my life. Dada and Surrealist anti-values combined with a love of early renaissance narrative painting formed the foundations of a style that was to remain until my last exhibition. Furthermore, I was academically active during the peak of a period of criticism that rejected the idea of originality and encouraged a re-working of history involving appropriation and demystification. My Painting Persona was all about content and the visual images were just an illustration of my theory.

However, my approach to photography is different. Firstly, I'm not concerned with originality (or the lack of it) because no two images can ever be identical, no matter how similar they appear. Great photographs are more about form than content. Though, we should always keep in mind that Form exists within Content, and vice versa. My Photography Persona is yet to rear it's ugly head. I've been taking this medium seriously for around nine months and it took me many years to develop as a painter, so I don't expect any sudden revelations and I am content to leave my style to find itself. There are, however, three formal areas in photography that I find myself drawn to: macro, urban exploration and night shots.

Macro attracts me the most because we can never see the true result of our shoot until we enlarge it on the computer screen. So, it's left almost one hundred percent to chance. This is because the depth and focal area of a macro shot is so narrow that moving it even slightly will create a different image. I love the fact that I can take hundreds of shots of the same object and each one will show a unique aspect. I own a 60mm macro lens and a macro convertor which fits on to my larger lenses (allowing me to distance myself further).

My first serious photos were of narrow passages around the city of Sendai. I'm still greatly attracted to this kind of shot. There is a surreal quality to an empty hall and a combined mood of expectation and doom simultaneously.

The low noise on my camera at at high ISO makes it ideal for taking night shots. An isolated area of light surrounded by darkness creates an extremely foreboding atmosphere. 

I have no idea where photography is taking me at this stage, but I look forward to the gradual emergence of my Photography Persona.