photo special
by Charlie Alice Raya
pattern, tree barks, colours
It is like a dance
At the beginning there is the photograph of a tree bark, a detail of its jagged surface, of the interplay between shadow and light, and the merging of colours. That is the first part of the dance, because the tree doesn’t care whether you would like just a bit more texture on the left, or just a tat more green and a bit less chaos in the pattern. And you can’t call the make-up artist to manipulate the surface the way you want it. What you can do is choose a day, and time of the day with good light. You could also use artificial light or reflectors. But that’s it. And that’s where and when the dance begins, the negotiation which detail of the tree bark tells a story, offers something unseen, or simply touches you.
The second part of the dance happens in cooperation with the computer. The images chosen for the colours extreme collections are put through a number of experiments. Often several attempts are needed to reveal what the image has to offer if the contrasts, lights, blacks, and the colour curves are tweaked.
The final dance usually ends with a smile. A smile that says: Gotcha, and ain’t you a beauty.
I wonder whether these images can really be used for fabrics. All I know so far is that some of them always make me think of pattern and fabrics.
The following images are all part of the tree barks collection: colours extreme tree barks by Charlie Alice Raya.
