Digital Camera World - UK (2019-12)

his image was taken as part

of an ongoing series I’m

working on, ever so slowly.

In the series, I’m finding my

way through ideas that relate

the landscape to Greek

mythology. To be honest, I’m not quite

sure where it’s going, but it rumbles on

the background and vaguely informs my

interaction with the land as I work in

various parts of the world.

Naturally, as I’ve alluded to several

times in this column, notions of metaphor

play a role in adding layers of meaning to

my pictures. However, aesthetically and

stylistically this image doesn’t fit in with

the rest of the series. So, it’s something

of an outlier and won’t make the final

cut, I’m sure. However, it’s also one of

my favourites, as a stand-alone image.

I inverted the image in Photoshop so

that the tones are totally reversed, like

a negative. I used to love looking at the

negative images on a freshly processed

roll of film. I often felt disappointed after

making a positive print that the negative’s

magical otherworldliness had somehow

dissipated. There’s something about this

image which captures that magic for me.

I photographed the olive trees at night

and used flash to illuminate them. As

a consequence, the negative tones feel

quite natural in their tonal rendition, even

though something’s clearly awry. I enjoy

this quirky aspect. The effect has also

captured some strange shadows and

even some flying insects. It feels a little

like a delicate pencil drawing. The layered

tonality receding into the background

caused by the limitations of the flash

and the night sky also create an effect

that alludes to oriental art.

What I like most about the image is

that the olive trees feel like dancers

in a beautiful terpsichorean ballet,

choreographed with a delicate grace

worthy of the Greek gods as they reach

out to each other in perfect harmony.

Greek mythology informs this month’s

offering from Benedict Brain

The art

of seeing

T

Benedict Brain

Photographer

Camera: Nikon D850

Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8 at 32mm

Exposure: 1/125 sec at f/4, ISO 64

http://www.benedictbrain.com

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com DECEMBER 2019 DIGITAL CAMERA^61