Inspired by the paintings of the old English masters with a mix of camera techniques and post processing I have developed these painterly impressionist images of both recognisable and abstract scenes into a style that goes beyond what many consider photography.

The looseness and ability to play without being tied by the light or weather affecting the scene you’d normally be shooting is the style’s appeal to me, also the chance of creating a scene that was not necessarily there. Using a tool of which its sole function is to capture exactly what is in front of it and then making it almost become a brush with which we “paint” is a joy. The results I have achieved since first experimenting with intentional camera movement (icm) have been more satisfying than any photograph I’ve made previously.

I like this image as you can still see the details of the plants in the foreground, becoming more blurry towards the back of the image. This is effective as it creates a balance between movement and detail on the landscape. I also like how in this image he only emphasised the natural colours in the landscape, rather than changing the colours in editing after the image was taken which is something he does in his photos. I like him emphasising the natural colours as it makes the landscape look more realistic and a true depiction of nature. On the other hand, it takes away from the abstract qualities of his other images where he emphasises bold shapes and bright colours. I also like how he contrasts the bright parts in the middle of the image, to the darker parts around the edges of the image, as it makes it more interesting and emphasises the composition.

With Northumberland as a home its iconic but subtle landscapes, coastline and nature in general have shaped my vision from an early age and continues to inspire me – though the thought of the challenge of a change of scene does appeal now and again. ended up with me all but abandoning the “reality” of photography and instead I use the old English master painters of the 19th century, along with the later impressionists as my inspiration to create the work I currently do. A huge influence and someone I actively try and mimic in form and colour scheme is JMW Turner.

I chose Andrew S. Gray as an artist to take inspiration from as I wanted to experiment with the way I photographed images and thought that the technique he uses, by shaking his camera and editing the images to emphasise the colours, was a good way to do this. I also like how he takes inspiration from old English painters and the impressionist movement through the movement and looseness of the lines in the images, creating a blurred effect, but still being able to see the aspects and colours of the landscape which are important. I also like his focus on abstract shapes and colours which I have done previous research into. He focuses on emphasising the bold shapes in the landscape which is something I will try to interpret. I think that by interpreting this work it will contrast from the way I normally taking photos which is very detailed and precise, always focusing on the composition. By doing this technique it doesn’t allow me to find a good composition as easily through the movement of the camera. With my images that I produce, I want to be able to compare them to images I’ve previously taken in the project and see whither they would be effective to use as final images for this project.