Sunday, May 22, 2011

It's in the Macro

carving by Tom Reid
Imagine shrinking yourself down to a fraction of your normal size, and then taking a visit to the gift shop to explore. What a wonderful world it would be (apart from damn freaky to whoever was on duty in the shop that day)! You could get up close to some of our wonderful work and really appreciate the detail that goes into each piece.

wood intarsia plaque by Del Holbrook
But that ain't going to happen. No, we're not in the business of offering incredible shrinking tours around our shop. As an alternative I can offer you some of my favourite macro moments each month. I'll 'fess up to enjoying photographing the artist's works in here a whole lot more than I do photographing people. My 'models' on the shelves pose properly, don't need to be reminded to hold still, and will 'sit' for endless retakes until I'm happy with the shot. Macro or very close up is my 'distance of choice' for my own work, and it produces some interesting shots of larger pieces too. Although as a complete representation of a work, it should be pictured in its entirety, I hope the artists in the cooperative don't mind when only 'select highlights' are shown.

So, let me take you on a macro voyage around the gift shop. Next time you're visiting, why not try to identify where the pictures came from so you can appreciate the fine work and textures in real life :)
wire and fibre acorns by Amanda Maxwell

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