Shoot What You Fear

Art is possibly the most remedial and healing hobby in existence. And yet it can also be the means by which a man's sanity is abolished. An obsession, if you will, that parasitically torments the host, while simultaneously outputting marvelous work. The artist ultimately determines whether his tool - be it a paintbrush or a camera - is a flower or a handgun.

On a personal level, the camera is a hammer with which I chisel out a trophy of courage. In other words, I take photographs of things - animate and inanimate alike - that make me feel uncomfortable. I used to be tense and maladroit around people and in social settings. Now that I have been photographing people and social gatherings for 2 years, I can proudly say that I enjoy being with people more than anything, and have boldly conquered my trepidation. That's one significant reason for my exclusive interest in photography over other forms of art such as drawing or painting; from past experience I can say that many art mediums isolate the artist from community, from other people, while photography is capable of just the opposite.

Once one discovers this freeing aspect of photography, it truly becomes a lifestyle of sorts; it becomes a journey within the realms of your innermost being. If you are daunted by spiders, then grab a macro lens and a camera and shoot spiders, all different types, colors, shapes, and sizes. If you fear being alone in the dark, go outside at midnight with a camera and a tripod, and let the creative impulse cast out all fear. Just as the sensor of a camera absorbs light particles, it is also capable of enveloping the entities that frighten you most.

"Arctic Tears"

Today I took photos for a client. She is a very talented artist and is extremely motivated. Sometimes I think she can create an awe-inspiring painting faster than I can click the shutter of my Canon. Her title for one of her paintings is Arctic Tears. This particular piece was different than the others. While most of her paintings consisted of warm hues and bright, joyous pigments, Arctic Tears comprises cool blues fused with deep, icy black gradients. She explained that when an iceberg melts, the surrounding water grows darker.

What It Means to be Human

 An often overlooked flaw that many artists - deceased and living - have in common is to go through their life creating art just for the fun of it. While there is no inherent harm in enjoying the process of art, I feel that if one is going to dedicate his/her life to producing art, then (s)he will have more purposeful endeavors if (s)he has a penultimate and overarching goal. Whether that goal is a question, idea, belief, or any other type of message is totally dependent on the artist's preference.

 I am currently in the middle of the tedious process of college applications, an activity that causes one to reflect on their past, present, and future life. A midst this weighty task, I have been scavenging the depths of my mind to really ask myself what I am trying to accomplish through my photographic endeavors. As foolish as it may seem, I honestly have never just sat down and asked myself that dreaded question, until now. As I was going through some of my favorite images, I began to see an underlying theme: There was a person in the majority of my most prized photographs. And that's when it struck me; I really enjoy taking pictures of people! Shortly after I realized my favorite subject to photograph, I began to ponder how I could incorporate people into the question that I will try to answer through my photography. And then the idea struck me: I will answer the question of: "What does it mean to be human?" through my photography. While I do not yet have a response to said question, I am striving to answer that inquiry- one photo at a time. By documenting the entire emotional hue of humanity - from the darkest moments, to the brightest triumphs - I will start to piece together and elucidate the answer to my question.

   

Aura of Composition

     The environment in which an artist composes his work is essential to the final product. This means that whatever the composer may be hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling, or seeing at the moment he is creating art will affect the outcome of his efforts.

     Now apply this concept to the act of editing photographs (Whether that may take place in the darkroom or on the computer is not important right now). Does the music a photo-editor listens to while doing his job affect the outcome of the photo? Absolutely. Although the musical intonations may not be directly translated into the mood of the photograph, I firmly believe that whatever is inputted into an artist amidst the process of creating art (Or in the artist's past) will affect what he is outputting.

     Consider this rather blunt example. A boy who lost a number of loved ones at a young age eventually becomes an artist. What are the chances that he will adopt a more melancholy style of art? Quite high. In this scenario, the history of an artist (The input) impacted the art he created (The output).

Outside the Box

When we think of the definition of a camera, most people would picture their point-and-shoot that they bring on their vacations to Hawaii.

Simply put, a camera is a device that records a moment of time. With that in mind, a number of alternative devices fit this definition. A roll of film in a box with a pinhole is a camera. A scanner, therefore, is also a camera. This idea, inspired by David Hockney, is a skill that I have adopted into my own repertoire.

Taken with a HP psc 2400 Series scanner.

Rustic Beauty

     There was something about this scene that seemed to be verging on irony, or perhaps just rustic beauty. The fact that people - like the teenage girl in this photo - can create such grandiose pieces of art, using a mere piece of chalk, blows my mind. While drawing on pavement with chalk is often thought of as a past-time for four-year-old children, the I Madonnari chalk festival absolutely incinerates that stereotype.

     There was something about the girl in this photo that I found interesting and admirable. She was solely engaged and enraptured in her masterpiece that would soon be washed away with time. To put so much passion and heart into a temporary piece of art takes a lot of endurance. I think that is the main reasons why chalk festivals like this one are so unique from all other forms of visual art. Michelangelo immortalized David into a piece of marble. Van Gogh painted The Starry Night on a canvas which can still be seen today. And the chalk artist wakes up to find his creation has vanished with time.

     Another vignette I would like to talk about is the way she blinded herself from the dozens and dozens of speculators who swarmed around her on all sides. It seemed that she was not concerned about people's opinions of her or her artwork, and she also seemed to be unaware of any time that may have escaped her since she started this iconic image of Mary. Do I think she is apathetic? No, she was entranced in her passion; this mental state of being is a place where all artists must become familiar with prior to - and amidst - the fabrication of a tasteful piece of art.

Discover

 I've had my external flash for almost a couple years now. For the most part, I have just used it for studio work, and for shooting events (Weddings, dances, etc.).

Recently, I've been looking at all kinds of interesting and extremely creative flash photography. I am starting to fall in love with it. Like to the point where I might only take photos with my flash. There is something uniquely creative about having a portable and off-camera flash that you can put anywhere. One photographer who uses flash in a very creative (Yet somewhat dark manner) is Luca Pierro. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sottounponte/

Although the above shots are more dark and pessimistic than all of my other work, I still am drawn to it. I've talked before about duel nature, and how everyone has a good side and a dark side. Being a Christian, I won't delve much further into this sort of creepy photography, but I like the concept behind these images.

Trees

This past weekend I finished creating a hardcover photo-book titled Trees. This 20-page coffee-table book contains some very evocative & emotion-filled images that I've created in the last couple years. After all, emotions are what we feed off of, in a sense; emotions are at the heart of what it means to be a person. It's what distinguishes us from machines of all sorts.

I am very excited to get my photo book in the mail any day now! This will be my second photo book. Here's a couple images that are in the book...

P.S. - here's the website that I used to make my photo book: http://www.photobin.com/ (Not nearly as good as blurb.com , in my opinion at least. But hey, maybe some of you out there will try it out and enjoy the site more than I did!). Also, if you'd like to grab a copy, just shoot me an email @ daviddobreski@yahoo.com.

Folklore Galore

Often times when I am photographing a live concert, I try to mirror the sound which the band is producing through my images, in hopes of giving the viewer of my images a taste of what the performance was like. Here I tried to create a climactic, yet playful photo to mimic the vivaciously individualistic group. In this photograph, a Santa Barbara-based band called Finger Folk electrifies the crowd with one of their most popular songs.