Photographer
I am a photographic artist who crafts images that resemble or invoke paintings. Deflecting the mind tendency to dwell on the concrete, the images embrace the spirit of a subject or setting and encourage an emotional or metaphorical response. Using color, shape, and line as gateways to provoke, the photograph are emblems of locale and meaning.
The images are elemental distillations that convey the energy of a subject or scene in a fresh way.
My work is inspired by Abstract Expressionism, incorporating elements that call to mind Action Painting and Color Field work. This movement, which came to the fore after World War II, is characterized by an emotional intensity and an anti-figurative aesthetic. At that time, photography was in the early days of its rise as an art form. It’s very specificity and documentary nature made it a concrete medium and it took some time for it to be able to express non-figurative emotion.
With the rise of digital technology, photography was loosed from its concrete documentary foundations. In my work, I use long exposures, intentional camera movement, and postproduction processing tools to create unique, unreproducible images of the world around me.
The spontaneity and energy of my photographs urge the viewer to let their minds wander and their emotions come to the fore. The color, shape, and line of these images dominate and command center stage. Jay Meuser once wrote about his painting Mare Nostrum “;It is far better to capture the glorious spirit of the sea than to paint all of its tiny ripples.”
Finally, there is a focus on beauty in a world so often bereft of it. Deep, earth-rich colors and shapes please the eye, allowing it to rest and linger, recharging the mind of the viewer. Offering a respite from the churn of daily life, a haven for mindful contemplation, or even just a subtle tranquility, I let the viewer take from the images what they require. Whether that is hope, joy, excitement or despair, it’s all there for the taking.
DanConnolly.com