This image confronts the viewer with the emotions of his own imagination.

My photographic process is fueled by my fascination with the way our eyes and brains interpret the visible world. In a photo or a painting, depth, shapes, structure, texture and materials are almost automatically recognized by the shades of light and shadow. This is the result of evolution and of a lifelong learning process. But as soon as light and dark are manipulated, the familiar interpretation is lost and we enter the unknown world of my images.

Nature is an inexhaustible source of carefully created compositions. Through an abstract way of looking, it is sometimes possible to hide the identity of the subject, so that shapes, structures and textures come into their own much more emphatically. Strongly inspired by painters such as Mondriaan, Klee and Miró, such an abstraction is what my photography is about.

With my camera I select and isolate a piece of nature in a way that makes the context disappear. With subsequent editing I hide as much of the recognizable content as possible. It is no longer about the bird, the tree or the landscape. But it is the impression that the interplay of line, shapes and color – that is, the composition created by nature – will make on the viewer.

This approach presents a special challenge. During the exposure, only the concrete is visible to the photographer. The creation of the final image has yet to begin, as with the painter standing in front of a blank canvas with a sketch in his hand.

The source of my images can be found anywhere. In this case it caught my eye while wandering through the Hortus Botanicus of Leiden University.

This particular image is very special to me, because it was my first successful blending of two separate images. One captures shapes and textures, and the other contributes appropriate colors.

The image is part of my series “Hidden Reality”.

What do you think are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

The color palette and the rich variety of shapes and textures that blend together into an outburst of joy.

If you would be able to make this photo once again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or different?

With my photography, I am no more than an intermediary between nature and the viewer’s emotions. Even if I would expose and capture equally well, the result will be different, because both nature, myself and the viewer have changed.
I prefer to rely on the current image.

Boudewijn Swanenburg shared his photograph in the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

Boudewijn Swanenburg, Netherlands
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Equipment and Settings

Panasonic Lumix G9 with Olympus 40-150 f/2.8.
More importantly: my eyes, Lightroom, my eyes, Photoshop and again Lightroom with a lot of visual judgement.