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gsr64.bsky.social
Grant Simon Rogers
@gsr64.bsky.social
230 followers 160 following 90 posts
Gallery Photographer, Educator and obsessive draughtsman.
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gsr64.bsky.social
Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · Dec 10
BSky Hello

British born gallery artist, living in Berlin.
Photographing urban flora.
All images are daylight and straight out of the camera.
I teach art history, drawing & historiography.
Full introduction + ALT
#Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer
A Lotus flower illuminated by an off camera flash, photographed in The Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn ( Love that name). My pictures are all underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. I hope to achieve a very theatrical form of image that works towards the narrative light used in the history of Western Art. This light play can be literal or suggested. I think as much of portraiture in the 16th-18th centuries as I do stage and film. Of course the later have played an important part in the development of my visual literacy. I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that. A photograph of me at work on Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin. This is as good a picture as any to demonstrate how I work. Here I am holding the flash unit in my left hand, mounted upon and extendable bracket. Fully extended this bracket gives me almost a metre and a half of arch to play with. This is important when it comes to subtle adjustments. Many people approach me to ask what I am doing. Many dogs approach me to see if I will throw their ball for them. My camera is held in my right hand. From birth I have had mobility issues which are finally taking a toll on my moment and flexibility. I find it hard to bend down but it is still good fun trying and the noises as I get back up are like something from a BBC Wildlife documentary. The camera, is a small fixed lens Leica (I always wanted one) and it suits me just fine. I can hear the audible focus confirmation and then use the rear view screen to see what I have got. Known as “Chimping” this is essential to me. I can’t really work any other way. Tempelhofer Feld, is the old city airport, +20mins drive or 15 mins cycle to Brandenburg Gate, it is in the heart of Berlin. Conceived as one of the show pieces of the 1936 Olympic Games, typically it was never completed but was designed to look like the outstretched wings of the eagle of the Third Reich atop an oak wreathed swastika. The airport is a breath taking example of the pseudo-philosophy of national socialism, manifest in architecture. The Feld is now a nature reserve and their are several extremely rare species of birds that nest here. Of course, it is prime real estate so the area is under threat by property developers who are insisting that it will be affordable housing. Affordable for who maybe the question? A photograph of dozens Poppies flowers growing in long grass on Tempelhofer Feld. They were nodding and swaying in the wind. The colour theory really works to my advantage in the low light created by underexposing the photograph. I love it. This is the very picture I was making (not taking) when I was photographed by a passer by. They were kind enough to approach me and ask if I would like the picture. Of course I did. This is as good as an example as any to demonstrate the easy charm of my pictures. What lies behind it is for me more challenging. Every part of Berlin has a story to tell. Some of them more comfortable narratives than others. In my career as a Historiographer I specialised in National Socialist Arts & Architecture and eventually became a teaching fellow in Holocaust Education for the Imperial War Museum, London & Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. This is some of the teaching work I am proudest of. The downside of this work is that you can never un-know it. Yes, it goes deep. Ultimately I took up photographing flora as a way of relaxing after the teaching. While I lived in London, this helped. Now I live in Berlin and the History is under every step once again. This colours my work for me. It is worth stating that there is a redemptive narrative for this ground, it is the sight of the Berlin Airlift, known as The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) which was one of the first major international crises of the so called Cold War. The picture is very dark, This is how I like them. I need the viewer to work a little to see them. Just like a painting. WHY WOULD I MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU? Myself and members of the public in front of Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus painting in the National Gallery Trafalgar Square. This was my last day as a visiting lecturer after 27+ years of working on the Public Programme of the National Gallery. I was never more proud of this work. I worked as a visiting lecturer at a host of other museums and galleries in London, becoming Head of Informal Learning for the Imperial War Museum’s (IWML) London branches. The National Gallery was my true education. The IWML was a top down lesson in how not to motivate a team, based on solipsistic ambition, bullying and toxic mental health. At the NG we were told by the Director General that the institution was lucky to have us as part of the team. At the IWML, we were told that we were lucky to be part of the team. Figure it out for yourself. One DG turned down his Knighthood in favour of others, one DG put a picture of her investiture on the Internet. These are all such valuable lessons to learn. They shape who I am, how I think. How I feel about myself. I am still passionate about museums and public collections and visit them to draw in, here in Berlin. Being exposed to the NG collection, installed a desire to learn that still exists within me today. I joy to share and pass on to others. I was not a successful student at school but bucked up my ideas at art school. I am not self taught at photography but had to rediscover it after a twenty plus year pause on leaving art school. I am still learning. I hope this desire for learning never diminishes. Life long learning is the best. I consider myself to richer for this experience.
gsr64.bsky.social
Photo Synthesis
For the Sun & Other Deities

Treptower Park
12435 Berlin

#LeicaCamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)

#Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty #BaumHausArtist
Photo Synthesis For the Sun & Other Deities Treptower Park 12435 Berlin #LeicaCamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) This is a picture I made last June. A day of nightingales and thunderstorms. Not the easiest of images for Instagram either but I don’t make them for this platform, merely share them. This platform has in the past given me pleasure and to look at your works in return, gives me an immense amount of pleasure. Not so interested in selfies, shoes, holidays (jealous of course despite the carbon footprint) but I am interested in any picture or reel of kittens, cats or dogs, falling over, off or into things. Thats what instagram is really for. - That said, I love it when it all falls into place. These pictures were easy. This picture was easy. It just fell into my lens. I made a lit jig on the inside after I had made this. It’s not merely bucolic, it has a lot of visual interest and textural complexities. I have been loving thinking in monochrome recently. I go through phases. Every picture tells a story. It means something completely different to each and every viewer but we all start from the same place. - Slow burners are long burners. I can live with this image. It is A Printer - Stay safe. Stay creative. - Alles liebe aus dem Baumhaus
September 15, 2025 at 3:04 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
PhotoSynthesis
For the Sun & Other Deities

Treptower Park
12435 Berlin
#LeicaCamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)

Ear Worm: Marche Pour la Cerémonie des Turcs
Jean-Baptiste Lully. 1670

#Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty
A PhotoSynthesis: For the Sun & Other Deities Marche Pour la Cerémonie des Turcs #LeicaCamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) Treptower Park 12435 Berlin - Plants are interwoven into the day to day of our lives. They are a source of food. An integral part of the Bio Diversity of our shared environment. A source for poets and chemists. They are part of our history of colour. They are mediative, symbolic. For artists they provide subject and pigment. Like a photograph, plants rely on light for their existence. The link between the two is for me, profound. Many of the plants around us are refugee species from other parts of the world. - I am not one for sharing pictures with music. I think it influences the viewer far too much and the "finished" image will change with our moods and feelings towards it. Music will anchor it, which for me, is like a padlock on a fence to symbolise love. In this particular case I instantly heard a piece of music in my head. I was laughing as I made this photo. I hummed the tune all of the way home. I am still humming it now. Marche Pour la Cerémonie des Turcs 1670 Born. Giovanni Battista Lulli. Florence 1632 - Died Jean-Baptiste Lully. Paris. 1687
July 8, 2025 at 3:57 PM
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Seasoning

Tempelhofer Feld
10965 Berlin

ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (off camera)
Monday 23 June 2025 @ 13.24.21

See +ALT for full solipsistic hold forth

#Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty #UrbanNature #UrbanFlora
Seasoning - Tempelhofer Feld 10965 Berlin Germany - A low viewpoint through wind blown grass. The foreground grass is out of focus as the lens depth of field comes into play in the overall composition. It was a good day. Today I sat in the grass, in my shorts and got a rash and this picture. I listened to the wind through this grass. I like the word Susurrus, that can be used to describe this sound. The wind was gusting. “Blowing a Hooley” also has a poetic tone to it. A different type of tone to susurrus but it makes me smile too. I listened to the skylarks overhead. I listened to the faint noise of traffic, just distant enough. In between the gusts, I could here insects, grasshoppers, bees, flies. I listened to boom box techno a dog walker shared with the world as they walked by. Monday 23 Jun at about 13.30, it was very windy on Tempelhofer Feld. It is now a Monday I will never forget because I made this picture of it. - Thank you for reading. Be safe. - ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS
June 24, 2025 at 12:37 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Beer Gardeners' Question Time

Treptower Park
Puschkinallee 31
12435 Berlin, DE

See +ALT for full solipsistic hold forth

#Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty
Beer Gardeners' Question Time
 #leicacamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (off camera) Trousers: BBC Home Service/9 April 1947/22.15(pm) Attitude: Sowerbutts, Loads, Clark and Sansome. Pink and purple peonies photographed from the side and slightly below. This is an intentionally underexposed picture that is relit with a flash held off camera to the left of the subject. The sky beyond is over cast with heavy rain clouds with the merest hint of the blue sky beyond the clouds. The title is aimed at my British viewer, I think I have at least one, will know of Gardeners’ Question Time? This is a BBC Radio staple since 1947, when the BBC first broadcast it on what was then known as The Home Service. Gardeners’ Question Time was a development of a war time, Ministry to Information public campaign known as Dig For Victory. BBCR4s Gardeners’ Question Time is not to be confused with Question Time on the same channel. A very similar format, where elected and or populist political figures are invited to share their thoughts on questions submitted by listeners (and viewers). Tens of thousands of listeners form the weekly audience for Gardeners’ Question Time submitting their questions on all aspects of their gardening needs to a panel of experts. They receive, thoughtful, helpful and inspirational advice from the panelists. This is where Gardeners’ Question Time & Question Time diverge somewhat. I still listen to an episode from time to time. 

I come from a family of gardeners. They are partly my inspiration for these works. All of my Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, parents, sister had or have a profound love of their gardens. It is in the blood. It is the summer and every time I visit a beer garden, I think of this R4 classic. I live on the third floor of a 1904 apartment block. I have a small balcony. Berlins parks and gardens are my studio.
June 8, 2025 at 10:25 AM
gsr64.bsky.social
Village Greens ii

#LeicaCameraDE ƒ/16 @ 1/500 ISO:100 Daylight & SF40 Flash (off camera)

#Photography #Gallery #ArtHistory #DayforNight #Photographer
June 1, 2025 at 7:32 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Book of the Seven Seas

Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)

4873 Væggerløse
Denmark

All info in the ALT text. This was a lot of fun, especially near the nudist beach with my camera gear.

#Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy
Title: Book of the Seven Seas Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) A photograph of summer grass being blown in the coastal wind on the Baltic coast of Denmark. The foreground composition is full of very delicate summers grass that has a web like quality as my flash illuminates it. The tree at the back of the compositions is seen this time in whole. It is not cut off at the top or bottom. The picture is taken directly into the direction of the sun. The rolling cumulus clouds are grey with a distinct silver lining. August 2024 for the first time in what has felt like years, I had a summer holiday. I cannot jump on an aircraft without thinking of the negative impact on our environment so this was a trip by train, ferry and coach. I can’t turn off what I know to suit my own ends. A Beach holiday has to very close to home or at the very least, a train ride away. This picture is made on the reverse, or the landward side of sand dunes on the Danish baltic coast. In my opinion (which I will change) these are the best pictures I made last year. The most original for me, anyway. Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry. Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus
May 28, 2025 at 4:24 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Three Pictures of Wind Blowing Through Cherry Blossom From Left to Right.

Lohmühlenbrücke
12045 Berlin
Germany

See +ALT for full description.

#Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty
Wind Blowing From Left to Right Blowing Through Cherry Blossom. Schmeterlingfeld, is a tiny space of green to encourage biodiversity along the side of the Landwehr Canal, Berlin. On this space, smaller than half a tennis court are three juvenile cherry trees. They are always a treat to see and photograph. Every year this mini Sakura is a magnet for me. It is in itself worth the effort but it is on the exact location of a memorable scene from Wim Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire), 1987. That’s enough for me. Good times - Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. I simply love making them. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. - What I would like any viewer to understand about my photography is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller. * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash. * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else. * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.” * I cannot think of the creative process as a shot. To me, I make pictures. Thank you for reading - ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS Wind Blowing From Left to Right Blowing Through Cherry Blossom. Schmeterlingfeld, is a tiny space of green to encourage biodiversity along the side of the Landwehr Canal, Berlin. On this space, smaller than half a tennis court are three juvenile cherry trees. They are always a treat to see and photograph. Every year this mini Sakura is a magnet for me. It is in itself worth the effort but it is on the exact location of a memorable scene from Wim Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire), 1987. That’s enough for me. Good times - Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. I simply love making them. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. - What I would like any viewer to understand about my photography is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller. * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash. * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else. * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.” * I cannot think of the creative process as a shot. To me, I make pictures. Thank you for reading - ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS Wind Blowing From Left to Right Blowing Through Cherry Blossom. Schmeterlingfeld, is a tiny space of green to encourage biodiversity along the side of the Landwehr Canal, Berlin. On this space, smaller than half a tennis court are three juvenile cherry trees. They are always a treat to see and photograph. Every year this mini Sakura is a magnet for me. It is in itself worth the effort but it is on the exact location of a memorable scene from Wim Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire), 1987. That’s enough for me. Good times - Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. I simply love making them. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. - What I would like any viewer to understand about my photography is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller. * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash. * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else. * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.” * I cannot think of the creative process as a shot. To me, I make pictures. Thank you for reading - ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS
April 22, 2025 at 4:41 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Wind Blowing From Left to Right, Through Cherry Blossom.

Lohmühlenbrücke
12045 Berlin
Germany

See +ALT for full solipsistic hold forth

#Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty
Wind Blowing From Left to Right Blowing Through Cherry Blossom. Schmeterlingfeld, is a tiny space of green to encourage biodiversity along the side of the Landwehr Canal, Berlin. On this space, smaller than half a tennis court are three juvenile cherry trees. They are always a treat to see and photograph. Every year this mini Sakura is a magnet for me. It is in itself worth the effort but it is on the exact location of a memorable scene from Wim Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire), 1987. That’s enough for me. Good times - Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. I simply love making them. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. - What I would like any viewer to understand about my photography is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  * I cannot think of the creative process as a shot. To me, I make pictures. Thank you for reading - ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS
April 16, 2025 at 4:47 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Bergmannstrasse Magnolia

Alter Luisenstädtischer Friedhof
10961 Berlin

Every year I visit the same tree. Will there be a new picture for me this year? Look at what I would have missed if I couldn't be bothered.

#Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty
A picture looking throught the branches of a magnolia tree, illuminated by a flash. Every year I visit the same tree. Will there be a new picture for me this year? Yes. There always is. It is always a treat. - Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. I simply love making them. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. - What I would like any viewer to understand about my photography is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  * I cannot think of the creative process as a shot. To me, I make pictures.
April 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Dunning-Kruger Effect

#LeicaCamera ƒ/11 @1/1000 ISO:100 Daylight & Off Camera Flash

Trousers: Over Estimated my Reach

Attitude: Specifically overconfident of myself at a particular task.

#Photography #Gallery #Berlin #Spring #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty
April 3, 2025 at 8:06 AM
gsr64.bsky.social
Willowing: Part 1, 2 & 3.
The COLD SONG, after Klaus Nomi

Friedhof Alt-Stralau
10245 Berlin

#photography #willow #Berlin #Spring #KlausNomi #Purcell #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty
The COLD SONG, after Klaus Nomi Willowing. Part 1. - Friedhof Alt-Stralau 10245 Berlin - One of the most beautiful songs in my world for one on my most beautiful trees. I can listen to this version form the Purcell opera, over and over and never fail to be moved. Contradiction, Part 100+. I claim I don’t enjoy songs or soundtracks to visual arts. The music is by it’s very nature more accessible and shapes the response to the visual arts, turning my experience of it into a passive interaction. Of course, this is the intention but I claim prefer without. I have a soundtrack to all of my pictures, the city of Berlin. In this particular day I had an ear worm for what I now know to be the Klaus Nomi version of The Cold Song. - Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  Thank you for reading - ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS The COLD SONG, after Klaus Nomi Willowing. Part 2. - Friedhof Alt-Stralau 10245 Berlin - One of the most beautiful songs in my world for one on my most beautiful trees. I can listen to this version form the Purcell opera, over and over and never fail to be moved. Contradiction, Part 100+. I claim I don’t enjoy songs or soundtracks to visual arts. The music is by it’s very nature more accessible and shapes the response to the visual arts, turning my experience of it into a passive interaction. Of course, this is the intention but I claim prefer without. I have a soundtrack to all of my pictures, the city of Berlin. In this particular day I had an ear worm for what I now know to be the Klaus Nomi version of The Cold Song. - Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  Thank you for reading - ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS The COLD SONG, after Klaus Nomi Willowing. Part 3. - Friedhof Alt-Stralau 10245 Berlin - One of the most beautiful songs in my world for one on my most beautiful trees. I can listen to this version form the Purcell opera, over and over and never fail to be moved. Contradiction, Part 100+. I claim I don’t enjoy songs or soundtracks to visual arts. The music is by it’s very nature more accessible and shapes the response to the visual arts, turning my experience of it into a passive interaction. Of course, this is the intention but I claim prefer without. I have a soundtrack to all of my pictures, the city of Berlin. In this particular day I had an ear worm for what I now know to be the Klaus Nomi version of The Cold Song. - Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  Thank you for reading - ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS
March 23, 2025 at 12:23 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Conductor 71

Treptower Park
Puschkinallee 27–29
12435 Berlin

#Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #Rose #KeepSharingTheBeauty
Conductor 71 A photograph of roses named after the magnificent Marius Re Goring in the Powell & Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death. Photographed in colour in Treptower Park. The photograph has a low view point and we look up at three small clusters of roses in a V composition. The two clusters above and to the back are a lot darker than the group of roses at the intersection of the V. Beyond the roses is a partly overcast sky with the sun behind the clouds crating a silver lining. My pictures are daylight, underexposed and relit with an off camera flash. They are nearly all photographed in cities I do not post process these pictures. I don’t really like photography in general that much if I am honest.
February 28, 2025 at 5:07 PM
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What a wonderful Monday morning.

44INCH PRINTWORKS Berlin days are the BEST days.

The final joyous part of the creative process. The Print.

A small selection from an exhibition here in Berlin, this coming March

#Photography #Gallery #Exhibition #Berlin #44inchprintworks #Hahnemühle #Leica
February 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Engels Coffee & Sunflowers for the Empress Theodora

Tempelhofer Feld
12049 Berlin

#Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Hampshire #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty
Sunflowers photographed in black and white against a dark blue sky that appears to be black in this monochrome image. What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.” 
February 11, 2025 at 6:03 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Portsdown Greens
Memories of The Shire on the way to the pub

South Boarhunt Lane
South Boarhunt
PO17
England

#Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Hampshire #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty
February 10, 2025 at 9:59 AM
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The Garden of Earthly Delights: Bish, Bash, Bosch

Tunnelstraße 36B
10245 Berlin

Full wisdom +ALT

#Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty
The Garden of Earthly Delights: Bish, Bash, Bosch Tunnelstraße 36B 10245 Berlin A picture AFTER Hieronymus Bosch 1450-1516 I have been trying to figure how how spectacularly damaged you have to be to thing that Trump is a good thing? Haven’t come up with an answer and I doubt I ever will? So absolutely nothing to do with photography, so I better write something for those who are still reading, if indeed anyone reads this nonsense. It is a picture of a magnolia tree in blossom that virtually fills the square format frame. The Petals look like gloved hands or white butterflies that form a cup like curve through the picture starting form the top left, curving down to the bottom before curving up to the top right. The sky was bright blue on the day I made this picture, so in B&W, it appears black. What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  Thank you for reading ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS
February 4, 2025 at 11:23 AM
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THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

Treptower Park
Puschkinallee 27–29
12435 Berlin

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Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus x
THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS Treptower Park Puschkinallee 12435 Berlin A picture of a group of poppies photographed in a park in, Berlin. My pictures are very dark because I underexpose them, then relight them with an off camera flash. The light falling on the red petals makes them look like silk or raw flesh. You can choose. I have named this picture after a poem by the american poet, Wendell Berry. “When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” Good, isn't it? Poetry. I wasn’t always calm enough to understand it. To my pleasure I have grown a taste for it. Now more than ever, in our new age of empires, I need to meditate on the words. What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  Thank you for reading ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS
February 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
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Coasting

26434 Wangerland (yes)
Lower Saxony

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Coasting 26434 Wangerland (yes it is really called that) Lower Saxony A low light picture of sand grass on a small sand dune. Top to bottom, The sky is a deep blue, a benefit of the winter light. The grass is being blown from the right to left and the detail is picked out by my flash which gives the grass a metallic appearance . At the bottom of the composition the sand is a dark grey brown colour. It was cold to touch on this deep winter day on the North Sea coast of Germany. What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following. * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.” 
February 2, 2025 at 2:14 PM
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Blue. Blau. Bleu. Blu & Azur

Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8,
14195 Berlin

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Blue. Blau. Bleu. Blu & Blah! 
 * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  1700s Berlin is one of the world centres for Chemistry. Linked to the Royal Families passion for Alchemy, they employ chemists (alchemists) not just to pursue the race for base metals into Gold & Silver but for the challenge of Synthetic Blues. Synthetic Blue is first written about by the chemist Johann Jacob Diesbach in the early 1700s. The first factory produced Prussian also known as Berlin or Brandenburg Blue, is in the 1900 century but the French state that they invented it first. Blue is the most restful of the primary colours still. It is symbolised by the angelic or spiritual across all societies independent of faith constructs. Blue as part of the daylight colour scale is the result of the earliest form of photography now known as Cyanotype from the ancient Greek kyáneos 'dark blue' and τύπος, týpos 'mark. It was named this from the Shadows on the wall concept of Plato's allegory of the cave.
February 1, 2025 at 2:04 PM
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Wintering: Part 1, 2 & 3

Berlin Winter Dark Light

1. Winterings. Görlitzer Ufer
2. Kinder und Haushaltsmärchen
3. Christmas Themed Romantic Comedy. Treptower Park

+ALT text for the full Holdy Forthy

#Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty
Wintering: Part 1 Winter Cherry in Berlin Darklight 
Görlitzer Ufer 12435 Berlin

 A very dark picture of winter blossoming cherry, stretched out in front of the silhouette of a much larger tree. I found that the branches of the cherry sat like an overlay over the back ground details. The hint of pink from the blossom stands out nicely from the dark blue of the winter light. I love winter light. This is a good thing as I live in Berlin. This geographical truth equates to long hot summers, a short but beautiful autumn, very dark, dark winters and an explosive spring. This winter light is dominated by low cloud. Somewhere just above it the sun is shinning and this effects the back drop to my pictures. Marbling the clouds from the reverse side delivers a stunning textured back drop for my photography. In essence my photographic practice is this.  * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  Making these pictures is something that makes me feel very happy. To me they are full of art historical references but this is far from obvious to the casual viewer. They are at their best when printed. Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus Kinder und Haushaltsmärchen (Das singende, klingende Bäumchen DEFA-Märchenfilm 1957) Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195 Berlin A winter picture. Dark with rich colours. The subject is of a little plant with silver seed pods that look like leaves. It is the silver seed pods of Lunaria annua, commonly known as honesty or annual honesty. I have relit the whole composition with a flash so the seed pods shine in the dark. Under the influence of the Brothers Grimm short story for children Das singende, klingende Bäumchen, which terrified me as a child, fascinated me as a teenager and perplexed me as an adult. Why on earth would you upset your children with the sole aim of comforting them afterwards? This interest in morality lessons led me to read a little more about the origins of these fables. To my surprise they are a lot more international than I knew at the time. Now I understand that stories flow along the trade routes like any other precious article. This photograph is underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. The whole effect is theatrical, it makes the subject look other worldly. This technique is based on what others refer to as Day for Night. That if you are interested in such things, this is the method but my aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving. I am as inspired by western art, in particular painting from the 16th to the 18th century. This is as a result of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery for over 27 years. I can never unlearn what I know and this joy for knowledge and art history is at the beating heart of my photography. I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that. 

Keep sharing the beauty A Christmas Themed Romantic Comedy. Treptower Park 12435 Berlin A miniature variety Silver Birch Tree photographed in the last light of the day, relit with an off camera flash. The sky behind the tree is a deep blue fading into purple and a hint of pink beyond the confusion of branches and foliage. A few leaves hold to the trailing branches and look like coins in the light from the flash. The flash also picks out the crinkled texture of the trunk and branches that make a type of green and silver camouflage print. I love winter light. This is a good thing as I live in Berlin. This geographical truth equates to long hot summers, a short but beautiful autumn, very dark, dark winters and an explosive spring. This winter light is dominated by low cloud. Somewhere just above it the sun is shinning and this effects the back drop to my pictures. Marbling the clouds from the reverse side delivers a stunning textured back drop for my photography. In essence my photographic practice is this.  * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  Making these pictures is something that makes me feel very happy. To me they are full of art historical references but this is far from obvious to the casual viewer. They are at their best when printed. Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus
January 31, 2025 at 7:47 PM
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Wintering: Part 1
Winter Cherry in Berlin Darklight

Görlitzer Ufer
12435 Berlin

+ALT text for the full holdy forthy

#Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty
Wintering: Part 1 Winter Cherry in Berlin Darklight 
Görlitzer Ufer 12435 Berlin

A very dark picture of winter blossoming cherry, stretched out in front of the silhouette of a much larger tree. I found that the branches of the cherry sat like an overlay over the back ground details. The hint of pink from the blossom stands out nicely from the dark blue of the winter light. I love winter light. This is a good thing as I live in Berlin. This geographical truth equates to long hot summers, a short but beautiful autumn, very dark, dark winters and an explosive spring. This winter light is dominated by low cloud. Somewhere just above it the sun is shinning and this effects the back drop to my pictures. Marbling the clouds from the reverse side delivers a stunning textured back drop for my photography. In essence my photographic practice is this.  * I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.  * I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera. * They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.  * Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.  * I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”  Making these pictures is something that makes me feel very happy. To me they are full of art historical references but this is far from obvious to the casual viewer. They are at their best when printed. Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus
January 28, 2025 at 7:30 PM
gsr64.bsky.social
Kinder und Haushaltsmärchen

(Das singende, klingende Bäumchen DEFA-Märchenfilm 1957)
Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8,
14195 Berlin

Full description in +ALT

#Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty
Kinder und Haushaltsmärchen A winter picture. Dark with rich colours. The subject is of a little plant with silver seed pods that look like leaves. It is the silver seed pods of Lunaria annua, commonly known as honesty or annual honesty. I have relit the whole composition with a flash so the seed pods shine in the dark. Inspired or under the influence of the Brothers Grimm short story for children Das singende, klingende Bäumchen, which terrified me as a child, fascinated me as a teenager and perplexed me as an adult. Why on earth would you upset your children with the sole aim of comforting them afterwards? So many of the Grimm’s collection of folklore does this. This interest in morality lessons led me to read a little more about the origins of these fables. To my surprise they are a lot more international than I knew at the time. Now I understand that stories flow along the trade routes like any other precious article. This photograph is underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. The whole effect is theatrical, it makes the subject look other worldly. This technique is based on what others may refer to as Day for Night, La Nuit américaine (American Night). That if you are interested in such things, this is the method but my aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving. I am as inspired by western art, in particular painting from the 16th to the 18th century. This is as a result of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery for over 27 years. I can never unlearn what I know and this joy for knowledge and art history is at the beating heart of my photography. I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that. 

Keep sharing the beauty
January 26, 2025 at 9:59 AM
gsr64.bsky.social
Wind Streaming Through Jerusalems

Tempelhofer Feld
Berlin

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Wind Streaming Through Jerusalems A low view point picture of Jerusalem Artichoke flowers with the wind gusting in between them. The closest bright yellow flower head is slightly out of focus as it dipped into the foreground of the picture, creating a heightened sense of movement and visual drama. All of the yellow flower heads are being blown from right to left, all are at an angle of 45˚ or more. Just to the left of the vertical axis is the sun, hidden behind the clouds and a flower head. This is a bright daylight picture made on Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin. I liked the link between Jerusalem & the Templars. In reality Jerusalem Artichokes are not from Jerusalem or Artichokes. They are a type of sunflower and from the Americas. I am sorry about that. This photograph is deliberately underexposed and then relight with an off camera flash. My aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving. I am as inspired by western art, in particular painting from the 16th to the 18th century. This is as a result of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery for over 27 years. I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that. Over the last decade, this form flora photography, closer to portrait than a traditional landscape has become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. 

 Keep sharing the beauty
January 22, 2025 at 5:33 PM
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Three Pictures Along a Danish Strand

All info in the ALT text. This was a lot of fun, especially near the nudist beach with my camera gear.

Three pictures along the Danish Baltic coast before and after a storm. August 24

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Title: The Scent of Pepper & Seawater Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) Title: The Scent of Pepper & Seawater Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) The subject is of summer grass growing infront of the silhouette of a small tree. The grass in the foreground is thin and spindly and appears to be very delicate, almost like silk spider trails. The grass touches all parts of the overall picture like daytime fireworks. The tree in the background is very small and is leaning from the bottom right to the top left of the composition. Because my low viewpoint it leans over the composition as a whole and has a real emotional presence. The tree is virtually silhouetted against a dark blue sky that is partly filled with rolling cumulus clouds. Last august for the first time in what has felt like years, I had a summer holiday. I do not jump on an aircraft without thinking of the negative impact on our environment so this was a trip by train, ferry and coach. I can’t turn off what I know to suit my own ends. A Beach holiday. These pictures are made on the reverse, or the landward side of sand dunes on the Danish baltic coast. In my opinion (which I will change) these are the best pictures I made last year. The most original for me, anyway. Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry. Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus Title: Book of the Seven Seas Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) This photograph is very similar to the first but with several noticeable differences that need to be described. The foreground composition is full of very delicate summers grass that has a web like quality as my flash illuminates it. The tree at the back of the compositions is seen this time in whole. It is not cut off at the top or bottom. The main difference is that this picture is taken directly into the direction of the sun. The rolling cumulus clouds are now grey with a distinct silver lining. It was also made a few hours before a summer storm hit the Baltic coast. Last August for the first time in what has felt like years, I had a summer holiday. I do not jump on an aircraft without thinking of the negative impact on our environment so this was a trip by train, ferry and coach. I can’t turn off what I know to suit my own ends. A Beach holiday. These pictures are made on the reverse, or the landward side of sand dunes on the Danish baltic coast. In my opinion (which I will change) these are the best pictures I made last year. The most original for me, anyway. Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry. Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus Title: Heavy Rain Over the Nudist Beach (Part 1) Camera Data: ƒ/11 @ 1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (off camera) The last of the three as they are shown in order of making over two days is photographed along the same beach. This time the sand dunes shield a nudist beach from enquiring eyes. The grass has become the main subject with the tree now so distorted in the composition it really leans over the whole like a dark presence. This picture was made between rain squalls which must have been challenging for our naturist friends. Several of whom approached me in sun hats and flip flops to ask what I was doing. They were not at all concerned about being photographed, they were just interested. Several of them have followed me on social media. Hilarious. The last of the three pictures I made along this Danish beach ecosystem. I am not sure why I called it (Part 1). Maybe I thought I had more pictures from this trip than I actually did. I don’t make many. I reject most and then print from a small selection still. I don’t like being bombarded by dozens of images. That is a personal choice and a reflection on how I like to work. These pictures are made on the reverse, or the landward side of sand dunes on the Danish baltic coast. In my opinion (which I will change) these are the best pictures I made last year. The most original for me, anyway. Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry. Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus
January 20, 2025 at 2:30 PM
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An American Lotus in Poppelsdorf

Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

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A Lotus flower illuminated by an off camera flash, photographed in The Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn ( Love that name). This Lotus flower seems to be illuminating the surrounding picture, like a lamp/ A very pleasing effect of the flash defusing through the petals. My pictures are all underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. I hope to achieve a very theatrical form of image that works towards the narrative light used in the history of Western Art. This light play can be literal or suggested. I think as much of portraiture in the 16th-18th centuries as I do stage and film. Of course the later have played an important part in the development of my visual literacy. I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that. I had photographed this very flower head 24 hours before when it was only partially open. I was contacted via Instagram by one of the garden staff who suggested that I should revisit, if I was still in Bonn? I was. I did and have now exhibited this picture no fewer than four times, in four different countries. There is such a mystical attribution to the lotus in eastern cultures. This species is western, a native of North America and was considered invasive, so cut back or farmed to a state where it is now on the endangered register. It was apparently distributed throughout the Americas by first nation peoples who carried the seeds as food. I always wanted to go back to America but I think I have grown out of that now.
January 10, 2025 at 9:49 PM