I question the conventional
belief that photography records the world accurately.
I find accuracy when I moderate
contrast and avoid conditions where cast light takes precedence over subject matter;
this is the equivalent of focussing on the local colour rather than cast light
or tonal values. This moderation can give more nuance, more wholeness. I aim to
make images which are true to our shared experience of the visual world. True
to our experience at the moment of seeing, and true to how the experience of
seeing sits in our memory.
As with my paintings, I give
less emphasis to cast light and modelling than to local colour, and my subject matter
might not appear to be “lit” from a direct light source; it is the same with
the majority of my photographs.
Sometimes the subject matter
is very much about light and form so this is not always the case. An example of
this is the photographs showing Portuguese architecture where frequently
architects have designed environments which emphasise a high contrast of light
and shadow and where the use of silhouette plays a major role in the interplay
between moving architectural elements (human beings) and cast light.
