Rowan O'Brien
Photography is synonymous with advertising and the impact of its use in commercial contexts is well established. This has only one thing in common with what I value and seek as in my contribution to the cultures of photography. My interest is in the temporal aspect of photography and the fleeting moment with an emphasis on how seeing my photographs feels.
Although I do not often photograph people, I empathise with photographers who seek to capture moments in the lives of people who may be otherwise kept unseen and rendered invisible in the visual cultures of mainstream arts and media. I accept that my photographs seek to fix something visual that is fundamentally elusive, but the potential to produce a level of conceptual impact that deeply affects people is an important motivation for me.
Dilemmas and paradoxes are common in my experience as a photographer. I have more than one creative identity. I believe I can be described as both creator and user. This requires the parallel curation of social media. This is one solution and I accept it may change. I greatly value the social and interdisciplinary experiences I can access through photography.
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Abstract in Motion
This project builds on my experience in landscape photography, albeit through a more minimalist lens. I am creating abstract images with a focus on light and colour, especially making use of Impressionist painting techniques of the late 1800s. By introducing or emphasising colour in the shadows, Abstract in Motion proposes a series of artworks that have a tactile aspect to them, despite being printed images on a two-dimensional medium. The themes in my project are varied, with an emphasis on the natural world, but I am photographing it in a way that renders it unrecognisable at first, leading the viewer to investigate the photograph from both close-up and afar.
Daily Life
This project documents moments of my life that I find worthwhile to capture shot mainly on film.