Strange Connections

A Studie - After Stieglitz - 8x10" - Charcoal on paper

One of the threads I follow in my art practice is pictorialist photography because it is related to my photography career. I often use old photographs of the late 1800's early 1900's as references or inspiration for my painting, and particularly for charcoal sketches. 

Here I have done a sketch based on the platinum photograph - Studie - A Sketch In Platinum by Alfred Stieglitz. The photograph was manipulated in the darkroom as an example of the painterly effects possible with platinum printing. Notes accompanying the photograph in the magazine Camera Notes states: "A reproduction from the same negative, in which the dominating idea of the picture is that of a simple sketch from which offensive and distracting detail have been eliminated, the drawing and general character being the same as that presented in the original print.”

It's like coming full circle. The Pictorialist's based their photographs on drawings and paintings. I based my photography career on pictorialism, which inspired me to produce original works inspired by photography.