| HOME | ABOUT US | SHOWCASE | GALLERY | EXHIBITIONS | ART for HEALING | COMMENTARY | SERVICES | STORE | CONTACT |
|
Eric Olson: Artist Statement I became a photographer out of impatience. I would be a painter, in fact I was originally trained as a one, but in making a painting, you get into re-doing and overdoing, and over thinking is my biggest enemy. Some people work very well to keep working on a piece until it hangs together, but whenever I do that it just gets worse and worse. After many frustrating years spent overworking my images, one day I had the quirky idea to work backwards. To do less work, make it simpler, move faster, work more intuitively. I shoot very, very quickly these days, and that seems to work a lot better. That’s why digital photography is a perfect medium for me. Shooting rapidly is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is that you don't get to rework and edit the image, or paint only what you want to, like you can with painting. Whatever’s there, is what's in the image. You have to be pretty good at seeing, to catch something interesting that works, and do it quickly. Sometimes the light changes faster than could ever be painted, or something is moving and a scene is composed instantly. That’s the opportunity. Capturing an image is always a highly personal experience. I'm looking for something that excites me, or captures my interest, and therefore it's connected to my personality. There's a natural intimacy between what I'm thinking and what I'm capturing. It’s almost inevitable that this intimacy conveys to the viewer. The work itself is a journey of spiritual and personal discovery. Often the images that stimulate the greatest joy for me are objects or scenes that are unexpectedly beautiful, or that reveal an aspect of the world that I never saw before. I often discover shapes that imply the divine structure behind actual things. Intense, saturated color literally makes me feel happy. Much of my experience involves learning about the incredible range of beauty in our world. Expressing fundamental human characteristics or feelings everyone can relate to is a constant goal. “Hope” shows a tiny plant growing in a very hostile environment, but yet persists. I admire that plant. I think the picture works because it reflects something common in all of us: admiration of pluck and courage and that which motivates it, which is hope. I seek to capture moments of beauty of serenity and share them. These things actually exist in the world and people forget that. If there is a message in my work, it is: “Take the time to see the beauty in your world. Look! Here are some of the things that I see.” |
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
The Blue Bar Shot from a moving jitney in the streets of St. John, Antigua. |
|||||||||||||||||||
