Introduction
Photography has been a recognized and a distinguished form of art. Many renowned artists have worked as photographers each specializing in the different fields. This paper shall be discussing the works and the inspirations of renowned photographer Paul Politis who specializes in the black and white photography.
Discussion
Paul Politis has been a well-known photographer in the modern days and he has successfully redefined the photography. He has been known as an proletarian photographer and he is a proclaimed self-taught photographer, as he has no special training in the field of photography. The artist belongs to Canada and is currently working and living in Montreal, Canada (Paul Politis, black and white photography). Paul Politis had started printing and developing the photographs since the 1980s however currently the rate of photography has been lesser, nevertheless intriguing.
The traditional darkroom has been given up by Paul Politis and has been working on the digital photography these days. According to Paul Politis, the digital darkroom has revealed some quality results as anticipated however the traditional darkroom is being worked upon.
It has been mentioned in the interviews by some magazines that currently the photography interests of Paul Politis include capturing the beautiful lights in the night photography. The main aspect that has been observed in Paul’s photography is the art of capturing the quiet emotions in real life moments. These moments are frozen in the cameras in the unique black and white tones. According to the artist, black and white is the combination that can capture these hidden aspects in the best possible manner (Fine art photography by Paul Politis).
It has been observed in the photographs of Paul Politis that the human presence has been kept to a minimum and the focus has been given to the emotions that are hidden as these are the photographs that tend to bring forward the hidden passions and the emotions. The materialistic objects have been put behind by the emotions that are presented in a stronger manner in these photographs. The work of this artist is a proof of the fact that the emotions have a rather stronger presence as compared to the presence of the human himself.
Apart from the emotions that are strongly displayed in the photographs, it has been strongly observed that the artist has focused on the patterns of lights as well. It has been argued by the artist that the best way of portraying the patterns of the light is by the magnification of these patterns in black and white. These photographs try to kindle the viewer in a kind of stronger empathy for the objects that are portrayed in the photographs. This empathy is made stronger by the addition of elements of the lights and shadows that are emphasized and enhanced by the perfect combination of black and white. According to the artist, the empathy, which is gathered by the viewer, might be his or her own personification. This is the main theme that has been used by Paul Politis in his recent work by strongly making use of the black and white theme.
The second main theme that has been used by Paul is the urban landscape of different cities. It is believed by the artist that the cities and the ways they are built have lonely feelings associated with them and these are the asphalts that are enhanced by the artist. The lonely and the isolated feelings that have been associated strongly with the city walls are the ones that are enhanced by the black and white tonalities within these photographs. The cities have been noticed to be rife with the still lives, the walls and the concretes and these are waiting to be photographed just in the right and an accurate manner.
The recent exhibition that exhibited Paul Politis’s work was in Ottawa by the La Petite Mort Gallery. There are many international magazines that have been able to review the work of this artist and these magazines are inclusive of Shutterbug Magazine, Black & White Photography which is based in UK, The American Muse, Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality and CHIP Foto-Video which is based in Romania. Canadian Geographic has included the work of this artist in its collections as the 2006 edition displayed the ‘Ottawa Valley ghost towns’ collection of Paul Politis. In addition to this, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa keeps the personal collection and the portfolios of this artist (Art, Architecture, and Geometry: Black and White Photographs by Paul Politis).
Conclusion
The art of photography has been considered as a strong tool of portraying the hidden emotions and the feelings behind the hard standing city walls, the concretes and the materialistic existences of the human beings. The urban landscapes and the human emotions have been the ones that have been finely portrayed by the artist and it has been seen that these are the themes that have gathered the attention of many renowned artists.
Works cited
Paul Politis, black and white photography. 2007. Web.
Fine art photography by Paul Politis. 2007. Web.
Art, Architecture, and Geometry: Black and White Photographs by Paul Politis. 2007. Web.