2019 East Austin Studio Tour
FloraWORK
FloraWORK is a collection of images featuring flowers and plants captured over the past three decades of his photographic work. The exhbition is an extension of David Carrales’ ongoing exploration of the portraiture genre and search for the beauty that surrounds us.
FloraWORK is dedicated to the memory of his dear friend, Lynn Whelan, who shared a love of flora.
Artwork is available for purchase. Please email David Carrales to discuss the particulars.
Rose #1, Portland, Oregon, 2007
8 x 8 Photographic Print in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Rose #2, Portland, Oregon, 2007
8 x 8 Photographic Print in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Sepia refers to a monochrome image rendered in brown tones rather than the greyscale tones used in a traditional black and white image. Sepia images were originally produced by adding a pigment to a positive print while exposing an image captured on film. Sepia gets its name from the Sepia cuttlefish. Ink from the fish was used to create the brown dye used to alter the tone of Sepia images. In digital photography an image can be transformed into a Sepia image using digital image processing software.
Images taken after a late afternoon shower at the International Rose Test Garden, Portland, Oregon, September 2007. I was using a digital camera for the first time and discovered you could apply “Sepia Tone” to an image. This is how I initally shot and then saw the images in the display. I can’t see them any other way than sepia toned.
Untitled #1, Austin, 2018
8 x 8 Photographic Print (scanned cyanotype) in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Untitled #2, Austin, 2019
8 x 8 Photographic Print (scanned cyanotype) in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue (Prussian Blue) print. The English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel discovered the procedure in 1842 and saw it as means to create notes and drawings such as blueprints. Anna Atkins created a series of cyanotype limited-edition books that documented ferns and other plant life from her extensive seaweed collection. By using this photogram process in 1843, she is considered the first female photographer. The Cyanotype process uses two chemicals painted on a surface: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide.
Images were made during the 2018 and 2019 Little Artist Big Artist mentoring program in which I participate. I use “sun printing” to introduce the student to early photographic processes. The discrepancy in the color blue is most likely from the amount of lemon juice used when “fixing” the image in water. If you choose to combine the chemicals yourself, the blue will be richer in color than the pre-made sheets I used for these images.
Succulent #1, Denver, 2013
8 x 8 Photographic Print in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Succulent #2, Denver, 2013
8 x 8 Photographic Print in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Macro photography describes the art of taking close-up photographs of subjects. Traditionally for a photograph to be considered a true macro photograph the subject should be rendered as life-sized or larger than life-sized (1:1 magnification ratio). True macro photography requires the use of a macro lens which combines high levels of magnification with extremely small minimum focus distances to render highly detailed photographs of subjects in extreme close-up.
Images were made with a Canon 100mm macro lens at the Denver Botantic Garden, Summer 2013. I like how the macro lens transports you into a miniature world where you can create an alien landscapes (Succulent No. 1) or marvel at the delicate hairlike thorns that line the edge of a leaf (Succulent No. 2).
Dandelion #1, Chicago, 1992
8 x 8 Photographic Print (scanned photogram) in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
A Photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The usual result is a negative shadow image that shows variations in tone that depends upon the transparency of the objects used. Areas of the paper that have received no light appear white; those exposed for a shorter time or through transparent or semi-transparent objects appear grey while fully exposed areas are black in the final print.
Dandelion #2, Chicago, 1992
8 x 8 Photographic Print (scanned photogram) in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Images were made in an Intro to Darkroom continuing education class at Truman College, Chicago, Illinois, fall 1992. The bottom image is the “Negative” while the top image is the “Positive” made by exposing the “Negative” like a traditional plastic film negative. I found the dandelion as I exited the L station and carefully carried it to class.
Bear-Grass, Montana, 2018
8 x 8 Photographic Print in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Monochrome comes from the Ancient Greek word, monochromus, meaning “having one color.” Black-and-white photography is considered by some to be more subtle and interpretive, and less realistic than color photography. Monochrome images are not direct renditions of their subjects, but are abstractions from reality, representing colors in shades of grey. One can also artificially limit the range of color in a photo to those within a certain hue by using black-and-white film or paper or by manipulating color images using computer software.
Droplets on Leaves, Montana, 2018
8 x 8 Photographic Print in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Images were taken at Glacier National Park, Montana, 2018. Bear-Grass was used by Native Americans for basket weaving, a hair tonic, and the treatment of sprains. Grizzly bears have been known to use bear-grass leaves to line their winter dens during hibernation. Flower stems grow 4 to 6 feet tall.
Cactus, Texas, 2018
8 x 8 Photographic Print in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
Color photography was attempted beginning in the 1840s. The three-color method, which is the foundation of virtually all practical color processes whether chemical or electronic, was first suggested in an 1855 paper on “color vision” by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, based on a theory that the human eye sees color through cone cells that perceive Red, Green, and Blue (RGB). Photographers differed in opinion about color photography when it was first introduced. Some fully embraced it when it was available to the public in the late 1930s, while others remained skeptical of its relevance in the art of photography.
Succulent #3, San Francisco, 2010
8 x 8 Photographic Print in a 12 x 12 Gallery Frame
The cactus image was taken at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the bright yellow flowers caught my attention on a hike to the top of Guadalupe Peak in spring 2018. The succulent image was taken at some random location, probably a flower pot, in San Francisco, California, May 2010. The pinks, greens, and water droplets proved too tempting to pass up.
Behind the Scenes Reflection
I thought FLoraWORK was a departure from my previous portraiture themed exhibitions, but upon reflection, I realized these were just portraits of flora. When I started to curate the images, I started to see themes: color, sepia, and monochrome tones; photographic processes: cyanotypes and photograms; and photographic genres: macro. I viewed this exhibition as an opportunity to inform the viewer on these themes, processes, and genres.
Right before the exhibition, I learned that a good friend of mine from my days in Chicago had passed away. Lynn loved flowers and gardening. It was an easy decision to dedicate the exhibtion to her memory.
