Vitaly Geyman
Vitaly Geyman A glimpse of the divine Vitaly did not mean to sound religious – hence the change of spelling of divine which means sacred- yet he believes that there is a universal consciousness and one of its expressions here on earth is the beauty of nature. Vitaly is inspired by the beauty whilst photographing nature. His own understanding is that human beings are an integral part of nature, and, in some small way, his images reflect back to people their own inner divinity. Flowers are one of the most beautiful, varied and mysterious species on the planet. They bloom only for a brief moment in time, opening up fully to the world in all their glory and then fade away. Buddha once said, "If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole world would change". In his flower photography he pays particular attention to the backgrounds, in many instances spending as much time working on the background as the flower itself. Spending time carefully examining the structure and texture of each individual flower Vitaly searches for clues as to the type of background that suits the individual flower. Each flower has its own personality: for example Morning Glory can be delicate and mysterious, Sunflower bright and playful, Calla Lily stylish and elegant. Paying close attention to the personality of each flower provides him with ideas on how best to present each flowers unique character. B&W photography provides Vitaly the most elegant representation of his flowers and nature series. The absence of colour allows the eye to rest, simplifying the form to basic shapes and shading. In a way black and white photography is the Zen of photography. B&W allows Vitaly to remove as much distraction as possible; what is left is the essence of the object. This is not an easy process as the temptation is to Page 42
show more. Deciding what to remove and what to leave behind is one the critical processes of fine art photography. In many instances he pays particular attention to the light and shadow illuminating a particular part of the flower which introduces more drama into the photograph. The close up view reveals the delicate texturing in the flower petals and ornate centre decorations glowing like a tiny light bulb; which only nature can create. He uses similar light variation techniques creating contrast in his landscape photography by leading the eye through the scenery. Vitaly has a varied background ranging from countries to education disciplines. He was born in the Ukraine and spent the first twelve years of his life in Kiev, famous for its cathedrals and historic birthplace of modern day Russia before the rise of Moscow in the 15th century. Stored in his memory the visions of this ancient city would realise itself in his cultural expressions later in life. His parents left as political refugees and moved to Italy, then onto Australia before finally settling in the USA in 2003. In Australia he obtained an Acting Diploma which included dance and singing. He went onto earn an MBA in Electronics Engineering at Monash University in Melbourne. Photography was a later addition when he moved to the USA. It was there that David Lorenz Winston (Solitude series) and John Wimberly (Silvershotz front cover, Volume 6, Edition 5) became friends and mentors for his photography career. Vitaly believes his multidisciplinary back ground enhances his photography because it allows him to feel the movement in composition, understand deeply and with maturity the spirit and essence of the nature he records. Photography for him is where the mind stops and the magic begins. He passionately believes that photography is the most powerful visual medium available for self expression, meditation, spiritual journeys and pure creative play.
Like most city dwellers the closest he got to nature was the local park. But in the last ten years his photography has brought him closer to nature because he developed a much more intimate relationship and appreciation of mother earth. The journey has been a healing and calming experience, and probably added quite a few more years to his life. On a broader perspective he believes that the reason we are all so ignorant and uncaring about the harm we are doing to our planet is because we have alienated ourselves from nature. Most of the population live in megacities where the closest contact with vegetation is the local supermarket. This trend is growing; people are leaving the country areas in the hope of finding a job in the big city. This is particularity evident with the recent modernisation of China and India where megacities and industrial factory scapes are magically appearing every decade. Not only is it impossible to reverse this trend; it is almost impossible to slow down the frantic growth. The world now wants the same standard of living and the luxuries of a western lifestyle. The gap is narrowing between the East and West; nature is the casualty. In some small way Vitaly hopes his photography will bring people closer to nature. It will remind them where they come from and the importance of preserving our fragile, magnificent and extremely delicate ecosystem. Vitaly’s artistic journey is an ongoing exploration of the beauty, simplicity and wisdom of nature, a continuous learning process inspired by passion and a love of life. Gango Editions produce his images as wall decor and he has more than 500 images on his website www.vitalygeyman.com
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Oriental Plumeria Silvershotz Volume 7 Edition 2
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Left: Wild Flower Bouquet Above: Morning Glory
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Call Lilly
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Floral Mozaic
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Winter Pine Tree Paradise
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• ADOX MCC - Premium fibre based photopaper with outstanding image quality now available. The emulsions for this paper are being produced on the original Agfa machinery, which ADOX purchased together with former Agfa engineers from the liquidator of AgfaPhoto in Leverkusen. They are identical in all measurable parameters with the papers formerly sold by Agfa under the "Agfa Multicontrast Classic" name. This paper is among the technologically most advanced papers in the world. With its four separately made emulsions which are coated together, it yields a range of achievable contrasts from 0 to 5.5. Other variable contrast papers, especially those with only one emulsion layer, reach grade 4 at the best. The paper is made from selected raw ingredients which are all carefully tested for their photographic properties prior to emulsification. Before every coating run several test runs are made on smaller machines in order to guarantee perfect batch to batch consistency. This paper achieves a great tonal range and crisp blacks. In order to increase the paper’s brilliance, it is coated on a bright white base (unlike its predecessors which were coated on a tinted base). The paper dries easily and tones nicely. Properties • Fibre based photopaper with variable contrast and high paper speed • Range of achievable gradations: 0 to 5.5 • Tonality: Neutral black to warm black. • DMAX: > 2.2 • 180g Double weight paper base, bright white • Available surfaces: glossy (later on also matt) ADOX is distributed by:UK/Europe www.silverprint.co.uk USA/Canada www.freestylephoto.biz Australia/NZ www.fotoriesel.com.au For technical support please visit www.adox.de
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Christopher M Perez
Christopher Mark Perez What if ? - Victorian Gothic
“A tiny sun and moon spin around, on a complicated orbit to induce seasons, so this is probably the only place in the Multiverse where it is sometimes necessary for an elephant to move a leg to allow the sun to go past. Exactly why it is this way may never be known. Possibly the Creator of the universe got bored with all the usual business of axial inclination, albedos and rational velocities, and decided to have a bit of fun.” - Terry Pratchett.
Active sub-cultures have grown out of the ideas presented in books written by such authors such as Jules Verne, Tom Robbins, Terry Pratchett, Sussanne Clarke and Ian Banks. They describe alternative realities to our own based on ideas that start with “what if”? What if the Age of Oil never came into being? What if the Age of Steam was not replaced with newer sources of energy? What if tribalism did not die out in the face of present culture and society? What if Dark Victorian Gothic cultures lived on into the 21st Century? What if there were several alternative realities coexisting in similar time, if not space? What if...? Some of these ideas have leaked into wider culture. Jules Verne is still widely read. Groups around the world devote time and energy to their Steampunk clothing, life styles, and art. There is an Argentinian Steampunk website showing their group dressed up in modern renditions of Victorian era garb. Katshuhiro Otama's “Steamboy” is a 2004 film based firmly on the ideas of alternative history and Steampunk. There is even a video game adaption of the movie. Several on-line blogs are devoted to the Age of Steam. Someone in England runs a fun and informative site called “Brass Goggles”. Visually the alternative history ideas implemented in these subcultures provide a rich tapestry of themes, colors, textures, and shapes. From a photographer's perspective it didn't take Christopher’s mind long to latch onto a new image making concept. Very quickly he found himself organizing a multi-year image creation effort. The outcome of the project is his interpretation of a living, varied Multiverse of Ages.
successfully jumps a “Seam” appear to depict peoples and styles spanning the Ages of Steam, Tribalism, and Goth Noir. Further, these contain clues that place at least one source of these images as having originated in another Age in the Multiverse that included Paris, France in what we think of as the late 1800's. Not unsurprisingly, the people in the portraits look not unlike us in our present time, space, and Age. These photonic creations have withstood the incredible stresses of alternative reality Multiverse time sharing to be revealed here for perhaps the first time in this, the post-Modern Age. Until recently there was rather little evidence that parallel dimensions of alternative reality existed. Now, after years of careful academic research it appears the world will come to know a new and wonderful truth. It seems that we live not in a Universe, as our doddering old schoolmarms taught. Instead, we may live in a much richer, more varied, and utterly complex Multi-verse. It takes little imagination to realize just how rare and insightful the photonic portraiture shown in this body of work truly are! Herein we learn a few basic things about our ancestral parallel Agesharing peoples, how they dress, pose, and, perhaps even, live. The tear in the fabric of the Multi-verse, the “Seam” between Ages that have allowed these photonic creations to pass this way appears to have weaved itself once again closed. As time passes, the portraits from other Ages have become ever more tattered and torn with significant amounts of information lost.
The Victorian Gothic images on these pages are what might happen if photographic portraiture from an alternative reality somehow jumped a “Seam” into our present reality. Images are stressed and imperfect due to the incredible forces placed on the art as they travel between ages. Work that Page 52
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