Some traditional photographers might not like such digital tom foolery, but to that I say too bad!

These are no longer "nature" images, I'd never make that claim, but I do believe that using

nature's beauty, her awe and her subject matter we can make wondrous art in combination. If it

pleases me as an artist, I've succeeded at least in the fact that I've pleased myself and I can hang

it on my on wall if nowhere else. If it also pleases another viewer and makes that viewer feel

something, especially some feeling that lightens their sole if just for a moment, then I've

succeeded that much more as an artist. It's that old expression "art is in the eye of the

beholder"! Yes filters can be gimmicky to an extent and I'm not enamored with most of them.

First and foremost I think the right image needs to find the right filter to work well and that

means a lot of playing around on the computer but when it happens it can be magic.

"Susan's Abstract III and IV" © Hank Erdmann The original single exposure of this image with Photoshop filters applied, "Ocean Ripples" on the left and "Pallet Knife" on the right;

My front yard, Shorewood, Will County, Illinois

Back to the lady in the gallery. To say that we are often trumped by our own egos is obvious but

after I asked if she had any questions about the piece, she said "I don't get it....is this a painting

or a photograph...it should be one or the other." Quite deflated, I started into my explanation of

don't try to understand abstraction, just enjoy the feeling it brings to you. She quipped back, "I

don't enjoy being confused", but then did add something to the effect that she did like "his

other work" (referring unknowingly - I think - to my other images) in the gallery. Such is life; as

Ken Thompson (fellow instructor at the Arboretum) says; "everyone is entitled to their wrong

opinion!"

I purposefully left out one of my favorite photographers of all time so as to be able to highlight

another form of abstraction. Photo Impressionism is a term coined in the title of his book "Photo

Impressionism and the Subjective Image". That artist is Freeman Patterson. If you want to learn

about abstraction, you must own this book. I know "must" is a pretty strong word but the book

is that good and it changed the way I photograph when I first picked up a copy (thanks Bill Glass

again for showing it to me!) in the early 2000's. "Subjective Image" means roughly the same as

"Intimate Landscape" in many ways and we've covered that topic. Photo Impressionism

however encompasses so many techniques, treatments and tactics that it is only limited by the

limitations of one's imagination. In many ways Photo Impressionism pays homage to the great

impressionist painters, but I believe it goes way beyond just simple influence or attempts at

replication of that look. Back to Mr. Webster's book, Impression also has multiple meaning but I

want to key in on specifically one of those meanings; feeling, both as a noun and as a verb.

When we can send a feeling or give feeling with our art, we succeed at the making of art itself.

Without creating some response from our viewer we are simply presenting them with visual

documents and while visual documents may be important for any number if uses, documents

rarely make art by themselves.

Abstraction and photo impressionism are important opportunities for artists, especially

photographers. When in the field and making images, we often find ourselves stumped by bad

backgrounds, limits of depth of field, or any number of challenges Mother Nature presents us

with when making images (and I thank her for that!). Such challenges are intimations that while

the traditional approach we first thought about may not work in such an instance, an

impressionistic treatment well might work and make a better image that we first conceived.

As far as "understanding" abstraction, I definitely consider this an error by both artist and

viewer. I can't ever remember working at such an image and thinking about what statement I

might make with such an image. All I want to say with such works is "look at what I've created

with Mother Nature's help or beauty or influence". "The image makes me feel good and I hope it

does the same for you". That also applies to other subjects we might find nature or not. When I

discuss or teach abstraction I tell folks don't try to understand an abstract, just view it for how it

makes you feel or what it makes you think about. View it for wonder and awe, not some hidden

meaning. Many famous abstractionists openly state that meaning if any is supposed to come

from the viewer, not the artist.

The photographer has two places in which to make his impressionistic visions, in the present (in

camera) or in the future (later in the computer) or actually in a combination of both places.

Much like a painter who chooses plein air painting on site or chooses painting from sketches,

photos, memory and visual influences after the act of seeing them, we can choose how and

when we apply abstract qualities to our art.

"Susan's Abstract V, VI, VII" © Hank Erdmann Two exposure versions of the image, varying the amount of soft focus on the second exposure;

My front yard, Shorewood, Will County, Illinois

I'll close with this series of images as examples; using the second composition of the scene that

surrounds the white flowers a bit more with yellow flowers to better use the two exposure

treatment subject. These images are is the same subject but the second composition of the

piece my gallery visitor commented on at the start of this blog.

At the time of shooting the image I wondered could I do more with the natural beauty of the

flowers and some impressionistic technique? I first thought of movement. Also being a lover of

the Great Lakes environs and photographing in such places you learn to use movement from

wind or wave or you'll go nuts. The same can be said for wildflowers at least for learning to use

movement by wind, you wait, wait more, wait a little more, and sometimes you just use the

wind for feeling versus sharp detail. On a rare windless day movement by wind wasn't an option,

I didn't think camera movement to be an answer I quickly dismissed movement as a technique.

Then I remembered that using multiple exposures one can create "visual movement" and that

seemed to be my answer. I made three versions that you see here, each with two exposures,

one exposure with sharp focus and a second with a varying degree of soft focus. I also changed

the composition a bit to use more of the yellow blossoms and enhance the two exposure

treatment.

My favorite is the one with the softest second exposure (the most out of focus second

exposure). It creates a "glow" around the flowers that I find treats the subject with love, a

romantic image per se. The image with the least de-focused second exposure creates an edgy,

almost harried feeling and to my mind doesn't respect the beauty of the flowers, it harshens

them. Does "Image Integrity" come to mind? (see my last blog on that subject). It does make

some kind of statement though what I don't like is the feeling it creates. While these images

make for great teaching aids you'll only see the "soft glow" image on the wall.

I like all the image versions I made with the subject and have sold prints of a few of them. My

prime goal is always to make art. The final art work may not be straight nature but is certainly

nature inspired and to my mind; nature not enhanced, nature needs no enhancing, but nature

celebrated. Your thoughts, comments....

Allbest, Hank

More Food for Thought on Abstraction:

"If I choose abstraction over reality, it is because I consider it the lesser chaos." -

Robert Brault - American operatic tenor

"What I mean by 'abstract' is something which comes to life spontaneously through a

gamut of contrasts, plastic at the same time as psychic, and pervades both the picture

and the eye of the spectator with conceptions of new and unfamiliar elements..."

Marc Chagall, Belarusian/French Artist 1887-1985

"The abstact nature of reality is the source of beauty." William DeRaymond, American

artist

"The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the

more real." Lucian Freud, British Painter 1922 - 2011

"Abstraction generally involves implication, suggestion and mystery, rather than

obvious description." Robert Genn, Canadian Painter 1936 - 2014

"Abstract art should be enjoyed just as music is enjoyed - after a while you may like it

or you may not." Jackson Pollock

"Crimson Maple Blue" © Hank Erdmann Morton Arboretum, DuPage County, Illinois

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