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Is founder of Elemental Images Photography. The photograph of "Dark
Hunt" (cover page), among others, was on exhibit at an art
fair. Out of thirty plus photographers at the show, Katie's work
was the only one that especially impressed Tryst's editor. Katie
was invited to submit her work. Tryst is her first feature and online
publication.
Recently she has acquired some new photographic toys, and has been
exploring macro and night photography. Her website will soon be
live and you may contact Katie for more information regarding her
work at: Worldswalker.com
or at her email: katie@worldswalker.com
 Gallery
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Artist's
Statement
I have been pursuing the art of photography since my 15th birthday,
when my parents gave me a Nikon FM camera. I still have the results
of the first roll: the texture of the water in our backyard swimming
pool, the shape of branches, the inside of our refrigerator, and
lots of cats. The Nikon
inspired me to explore the shape of the image in the frame as earlier
cameras (a Kodak Instamatic, a Brownie) did not, and I grew fascinated
with texture, shape, and color.
Today, over 25 years later, I am still fascinated. Getting close,
so close there is nothing but the image, allows me to focus on a
single element: the criss-cross texture of a palm tree, the repeating
pattern of rafters against the sky on a roof under construction.
Further away, there is energy: even a
statue has direction of movement if viewed from the right angle.
In my travels, I search for images that have a story ready to grow
inside the frame. Bicycling around the Ring of Kerry in Ireland,
I tried to capture the way the green comes back to reclaim what
humans built. Sod and stone cottages littered the countryside; grandma’s
house stands in the
grazing lands of each farm, blurring the border between civilization
and nature. A stone stairway in Spain reaches from the past, where
centuries of footsteps have worn away the steps into hollow curves,
to the future, shining and unknown.
My current obsession is night photography. Without the intrusion
of the flash, the image illuminated by whatever is around: streetlights,
vehicle lights, porch lights, I am able to capture a mood that is
both subtle and starker than one finds in the light of day. The
longer exposures allow me
to play with movement and stillness, whether it be the movement
of light itself, or the movement of single objects in an otherwise
still image. Sometimes I bring only my camera, sans tripod. Placing
the camera on the ground or in tree branches gives me shapes in
the foreground that I never
would have planned. I look for natural camera resting places, to
see what will frame the image.
While I still love and use that first Nikon, a new digital camera
has allowed me the freedom to experiment even more than before.
The immediate access to the image, letting me know if I captured
the essence of what I see, gives me the freedom to explore the unusual
in the everyday.
Copyright © 2004 Katie Clapham |
