A journey into abstraction

Recently, I have been immersed in exploring abstraction

​in photography as intervened upon with digital art. Digital 

photo collage is precisely like traditional collage except it 

makes use of digital tools located in such computer

software programs as Photoshop. The scissors are traded 

in for a mouse which enables one to select a cutting tool; 

this latter is then used to manually trace around the form

one wishes to clip. To paste a shape you simply must set 

the figure into the wanted position. Thus, the computer is 

being guided by the hand directly to complete the work

the artist has imagined with his or her mind's eye.


In the work to the right, "Iris Meditation", traditional 

photography is combined with digital, art making. The 

work began with a photograph of the interior of a French 

iris. This photograph provided the basis for the

subsequent abstract interventions.  Geometric forms 

were then drawn onto the black and white, iris image with

the aforementioned software's shape tools. Shapes

​were then hand colored and hand positioned.


It is a falsity to believe that digitally created or influenced 

art is less in value or work input than the traditional 

media based, art pieces.  One must forgo ones' 

preconceptions. The computer and the software are

merely tools to achieve an artistic end. As any tool the

computer requires the artist's forethought and manual

dexterity. Digital art is merely the new frontier. Let us

​embrace the computer as a tool which enables the

creative spirit to mold fresh and interesting worlds.

"Iris Meditation", digital photo collage, 8.5" x !1"