Gallery Nyne: The Eye of Adam Butler
After Nyne: The "HD" (for lack of a better term) nature of your imagery is powerful, what would you say the impact on your audience is intended to be?
Adam Butler: I strive to produce images which have great clarity of light and tonal immediacy but I am in not interested in a HD look or sharpness in itself. Yes my images - especially my black and white images - often feature simple compositions with sharp light contrasts, and my editing techniques lead to a definite impact and preciseness of tone which I love, and I suppose the consequential illusion of great sharpness is a result of this clarity; I don't like the hazy, soft focus feel.
I work also as an architectural and interiors photographer, which requires a considerable amount of technical preciseness with no room for sloppy techniques, so I naturally carry over the same exactness into my personal work. I always use good quality lenses in order to minimise geometrical distortions and make sure vertical lines are straight and parallel but really the luminosity and tonal contrasts in my images are the only things that interest me, and not really in any sharpness or "high resolution" technique. Besides, my images are designed to end up on a wall and consequently they are generally viewed from a distance, not with a magnifying glass or zoomed in on a computer screen!
You capture what could be interpreted as the 'ultimate beauty' of a concrete jungle, how do you envision your own imagery?
I am drawn to geometrical forms and the ensuing layering or arrangement of space and depth, and how light falling upon, reflecting off, filtering through or changing behind modulates and articulates buildings or other forms. This I find hugely inspiring and even within an urban concrete jungle I find details or wider views of this geometrical arrangement of space which can be so satisfying when transferred to a two dimensional form via my camera lens.
All of my most successful images, regardless of the subject, feature a certain structural integrity - or balanced composition and harmony - along with a particular, often dramatic light which I suppose makes them appear attractive but this is as much a consequence of my style as conscious desire to make something appear beautiful! I do however think that we are all drawn magnetically towards pleasing imagery - so of course all artists strive to produce art which appeals to collectors, why else would they buy art unless they loved it? For me, the luminosity and clarity of light, and how it describes the vastness of space and time are so important to me and my imagery. The timelessness this evokes, and the essential beauty and infinite nature of any view with gradually modulating contrasts tones is fundamental to my vision, and if this resonates with viewers then I am happy if they find it beautiful!
There is a clear lack of human presence, the architecture or the space itself takes over. Is it intentional?
I love the feeling of melancholic loneliness in cityscapes or scenes. However this can often be more effectively evoked by a human presence, which can crystallise this emptiness, or the isolated nature of the human condition within the city. Edward Hopper did this brilliantly, as did many other artists. But I am more interested in making the city itself the subject, with the multitude of its forms, its atmosphere and the light; sweeping views are by their very nature so vast that there is no space for any human presence; but I do often include people in street scenes. Sometimes I deliberately pose them where I want them to be, as this saves time to wait for someone to randomly appear at the right place, otherwise I have to be patient!
I am not interested much in "street photography", in the totally random presence of people within a cityscape - this I find to more akin to photojournalism. Randomness of chance can be wonderful, but being a rational person I always prefer to be in control of what I am doing.
In many ways, your photography has allowed audiences to witness the silent bliss of a still landscape, why have you chosen this genre?
I find that the senses are often cross stimulated by strange phenomena. For example, a wide seascape view gives me that feeling of quietness or tranquillity, as do views above the rooftops of cities at dawn or dusk. Space and light are important aspects of this. Views in which you do not see the horizon or the sky tend to be much more edgy or claustrophobic, and the pattern of light and shade, or colour, tone or texture have to take over. One of my most successful black and white images is a great example of this, I called it simply "Steps and Shadows", shot on the island of Panarea, a black and white image in which the patterning of the light creates interesting shapes which can be read in an almost abstract manner. There is a small segment of sky visible at the top of the picture, but this I deliberately toned to black, thereby not allowing the viewer any respite and forcing their attention to the interplay of light and shade.
And finally, in a world of digital revolution, do you consider the camera as an extension of your visualisations, or simply as a 'tool of the trade'.
The digital revolution has not changed my artistic vision! It has just made capturing images more efficient and in many ways it has opened up a whole new world of possibilities to photographers who can now much more easily manipulate their images for artistic effect or even create their work from scratch.
I don't think it's important for anyone to know whether a wide sweeping view of a city is taken with a wide angle lens or a detail taken from afar, or whether I am close to a subject, I am not a fan of photographic quirks such as distorted wide angle views in which nearby objects become enlarged through exaggerated foreshortening, nor the "dumbing down" of space which often the use of compressing telephoto lenses can evoke. I furthermore detest the look of any clearly "photoshopped" image, such as the tonal mapping or high dynamic range images which are in my opinion completely flat and lifeless. The camera is my medium but I try to see as a painter might view a scene and then apply this vision to try to overcome the technical limitations of the photographic language. I love how the the hard contrasts, the rich tones and the preciseness of the photographic genre matches my artistic vision, I relish how this allows me to be be creative whether or not I am creating a black and white image or a bright, colourful view, in each case regardless of the subject matter. For me, any image should have that immediacy and impact that I look for, and for this reason I am not adverse to extensively manipulating any photograph digitally. I do not limit my vision to the click of a camera and whatever might come out, for me this is just the starting point! I never try to capture any particular place, it is more the essence or the feel of a place or view that I try to evoke.
