Finding beauty in Simplicity.

Hello there. And welcome.

So ….. what is there to know? Well, all you really need to know about me is that I’m a simple guy who tries to live a simple life and one of the things I love to do is to create beautiful photographic imagery that embodies and inspires the Japanese minimalist notions of simplicity and balance.

I’ve had a camera in my possession for most of my life. But around 2010 I began an inward journey that involved the study of zen philosophies and the incorporation of their key principles (eg: simplicity, empathy, mindfulness, and balance) into my life. Subsequently, this new life approach helped me see photography in a new light and changed the way I took photos. No longer was taking a photo just a process of capturing what’s already there, it became about looking for and feeling the essence ofn both myself and what I was looking at and thus creating/capturing a piece that evokes a sensation deeper than just the simple pleasure of viewing a “lovely” image.

My work is neither designed nor coerced. It is simply the result of a mindset and an expression of self at any given moment. Sometimes it appears to “just happen” and sometimes it just doesn’t happen at all. But things can only “just happen” by searching for moments, by learning from experiences, and, most importantly, by being present in those moments. It takes patience and persistence, two disciplines that require a lot of practice.

The primary photographic technique I use to create the somewhat ethereal appearance of the majority of my artworks is called “long exposure photography”. This is a technique whereby the shutter of the camera is left open for an extended period of time (usually between 5 and 10 minutes in my case) creating a “blurred” effect with anything that is moving within the composition - this is what makes the water and clouds look the way they do in my artworks.

As an aside, every now and then I hear people remark that “this has been photoshopped”. Well, let me tell you that they’re not. Yes, I do shoot digitally and therefore they do go into a digital processing platform. But the effect is created purely using tools and techniques I have practiced and perfected over a long period of time. Unlike many others in this genre of photography, there is very little digital manipulation of my artworks.

The pieces I select to print and hang are chosen because of how they resonate with me and also how they exemplify the life philosophies I have adopted. Seeing my prints in person can be described as experiencing a visual form of meditation, something that definitely happens with me and hopefully it will with you too. But if it doesn’t, that’s ok too.

And that’s about it ….. so let me finish by saying thanks for stopping by. I hope you find a sense of peace and wonder in my work. And please feel free to get in touch for any reason. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,

Paul.