Barbara Mark - Artist Statement
"The imagination dwells between the outer and inner worlds and opens up secret regions that the mind would never bring us towards. When your imagination is awakened your experience deepens in unexpected and richly adventurous ways." - John O'Donohue
I have had a camera in my hands since I was a young child. My first camera was a tiny toy that actually had a very tiny roll of film that could be processed. It was magical; I was more than delighted! As I grew up my interest grew and my focus was on macro photography. I loved being able to get up close to a four-leaf clover or a tiny flower. My cameras became more sophisticated and my subjects more varied.
Life continued and I pursued my education eventually getting my doctorate in clinical psychology. As I also worked to pay for my education, photography got put on a back burner. Now some decades and a career later, in semi-retirement, photography is back on the front burner. I have returned to my love of macro photography with the addition of a deep love of abstract imagery.
Macro photography excites my imagination. My desire to capture the beauty of usually unseen parts of flowers and plants in an unseen and intimate way invites me to see the infinite colors, textures and patterns that nature has to offer. To photograph flowers and plants in this way is, for me, to be in prayer, to be in communion with the awe-inspring beauty of mother nature. I find it nurturing and peaceful as I sit with a plant for a period of time and look for the way it wants to express itself. Each of the resulting images feels like a gift to me.
I will tend to ignore conventions and will shoot in bright sunlight or push the extremes of a lens or crop
drastically to create effects that I like. I am not always drawn to taking pretty pictures of pretty flowers, but look for the unique way a bit of nature presents itself to me. Photography is a creative adventure for me and I resist confinement in my adventure seeking!
Art is a storytelling that the creator starts and the observer continues. Photography is for me an experience of the sacred. Nature is my sanctuary. The numinous is all around us. It becomes meaningful when we invest it with meaning, when we make our own magic. We might see beauty in our peripheral vision but it can easily escape us if we don't turn our attention directly toward it and be fully in the experience of it. I see beauty in my own way and I don't seek to control or interpret the experience of the viewer. I seek simply to provide a potential stimulus, an invitation for a viewer to tell their story, to go on a journey of their own.
The psychologist in me also comes into my experience of beauty, the neuro-psychology of taking in what we see. Neuro-aesthetics is a field that fascinates me. It leads me to understand the importance of creativity, of my own experience of beauty and its impact on my state of mind and general well-being. It guides my understanding of what happens as I gaze at the colors, patterns and textures of flowers and other plants. My photography takes me to a transcendent place of awe and moments of pure joy.
Life continued and I pursued my education eventually getting my doctorate in clinical psychology. As I also worked to pay for my education, photography got put on a back burner. Now some decades and a career later, in semi-retirement, photography is back on the front burner. I have returned to my love of macro photography with the addition of a deep love of abstract imagery.
Macro photography excites my imagination. My desire to capture the beauty of usually unseen parts of flowers and plants in an unseen and intimate way invites me to see the infinite colors, textures and patterns that nature has to offer. To photograph flowers and plants in this way is, for me, to be in prayer, to be in communion with the awe-inspring beauty of mother nature. I find it nurturing and peaceful as I sit with a plant for a period of time and look for the way it wants to express itself. Each of the resulting images feels like a gift to me.
I will tend to ignore conventions and will shoot in bright sunlight or push the extremes of a lens or crop
drastically to create effects that I like. I am not always drawn to taking pretty pictures of pretty flowers, but look for the unique way a bit of nature presents itself to me. Photography is a creative adventure for me and I resist confinement in my adventure seeking!
Art is a storytelling that the creator starts and the observer continues. Photography is for me an experience of the sacred. Nature is my sanctuary. The numinous is all around us. It becomes meaningful when we invest it with meaning, when we make our own magic. We might see beauty in our peripheral vision but it can easily escape us if we don't turn our attention directly toward it and be fully in the experience of it. I see beauty in my own way and I don't seek to control or interpret the experience of the viewer. I seek simply to provide a potential stimulus, an invitation for a viewer to tell their story, to go on a journey of their own.
The psychologist in me also comes into my experience of beauty, the neuro-psychology of taking in what we see. Neuro-aesthetics is a field that fascinates me. It leads me to understand the importance of creativity, of my own experience of beauty and its impact on my state of mind and general well-being. It guides my understanding of what happens as I gaze at the colors, patterns and textures of flowers and other plants. My photography takes me to a transcendent place of awe and moments of pure joy.
"In the company of flowers we know happiness." - John Stewart Colli