[MY INTERVIEW WITH NEIL WEAVER]
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
[QUESTION]
(I've seen your PBS interview) but can you expound on how exactly you got into photography?
[ANSWER]
I've always been passionate about art from an early age - over the years I did a lot of pencil drawing and acrylic painting. Photography had interested me for awhile, but it wasn't until I was back home visiting my parents during college summer break of 2001 that I went all in on it. One evening I borrowed my mom's point and shoot 35mm camera and took it to the Lake Michigan shore. I took some sunset photos that night and love it. Then, when the developed prints, I realized that this was the type of creating that I wanted to do. A few weeks later I bought a 35mm film SLR camera and a tripod, took a lot of awful photos but I was having a blast. I just kept and it and learned as much as I could. Five years later I reluctantly switched to digital but I feel like I began to improve more rapidly from that point forward.
(I've seen your PBS interview) but can you expound on how exactly you got into photography?
[ANSWER]
I've always been passionate about art from an early age - over the years I did a lot of pencil drawing and acrylic painting. Photography had interested me for awhile, but it wasn't until I was back home visiting my parents during college summer break of 2001 that I went all in on it. One evening I borrowed my mom's point and shoot 35mm camera and took it to the Lake Michigan shore. I took some sunset photos that night and love it. Then, when the developed prints, I realized that this was the type of creating that I wanted to do. A few weeks later I bought a 35mm film SLR camera and a tripod, took a lot of awful photos but I was having a blast. I just kept and it and learned as much as I could. Five years later I reluctantly switched to digital but I feel like I began to improve more rapidly from that point forward.
STYLE
[QUESTION]
Who or what influenced your style of photography?
[ANSWER]
There are many people who influenced my style. First of all, my mom - a watercolor painter who often painted Michigan landscapes. I especially enjoyed her dune and beach scenes. She was a big reason why I had an interest in art all through my years of school, and that eventually led to finding photography. One of the photographers most influential to me was Todd Reed. Todd is a Ludington-based photographer who a lot of work along the Lake Michigan shoreline. During the early days of my photography I would visit his gallery and study his work. He had such a talent for making his beach scenes come alive, and I would try to identify what made his images so powerful. Ian Plant has also been a big influence for many years. His wide angle landscapes are composed so beautifully and his post processing is very realistic. Over the years he would often write magazine articles about composition concepts and would read as much as I could in the subject.
Who or what influenced your style of photography?
[ANSWER]
There are many people who influenced my style. First of all, my mom - a watercolor painter who often painted Michigan landscapes. I especially enjoyed her dune and beach scenes. She was a big reason why I had an interest in art all through my years of school, and that eventually led to finding photography. One of the photographers most influential to me was Todd Reed. Todd is a Ludington-based photographer who a lot of work along the Lake Michigan shoreline. During the early days of my photography I would visit his gallery and study his work. He had such a talent for making his beach scenes come alive, and I would try to identify what made his images so powerful. Ian Plant has also been a big influence for many years. His wide angle landscapes are composed so beautifully and his post processing is very realistic. Over the years he would often write magazine articles about composition concepts and would read as much as I could in the subject.
PHILOSOPHY
[QUESTION]
What are some of the major ideas you try to convey behind your work? Is there anything personal you were trying to express with any of your photography?
[ANSWER]
My love of photography comes from the power of place. I am in love with the many beautiful locations in Michigan and I enjoy experiencing them in every season. Those moments are very special to me. What I hope to convey in my imagery is the immense beauty, emotion, and energy that I am feeling at the moment that my shutter button is being push. I try to compose my images in a way that helps to evoke emotion with the viewer, so that hopefully they feel a bit of what I felt when I was on location making the image. That typically involves catching exceptional light and composing a scene in a way that draws the viewer in.
What are some of the major ideas you try to convey behind your work? Is there anything personal you were trying to express with any of your photography?
[ANSWER]
My love of photography comes from the power of place. I am in love with the many beautiful locations in Michigan and I enjoy experiencing them in every season. Those moments are very special to me. What I hope to convey in my imagery is the immense beauty, emotion, and energy that I am feeling at the moment that my shutter button is being push. I try to compose my images in a way that helps to evoke emotion with the viewer, so that hopefully they feel a bit of what I felt when I was on location making the image. That typically involves catching exceptional light and composing a scene in a way that draws the viewer in.
INFLUENCES
[QUESTION]
What are some of the visual quirks you look for when taking photos?
[ANSWER]
I am often searching for a scene that tells a story. Not just an interesting subject, but often multiple interesting focal points in the image. My wide angle work often includes a foreground that draws the viewer into the scene. This might involve curving or diagonal lines, textures, shapes, patterns. I enjoy finding a scene with contrasting colors (warm and cool hues) that complement each other and thus make the image more visually appealing. And lastly, I look at textures, how the different textures in the scene can work together to create a more dynamic image.
What are some of the visual quirks you look for when taking photos?
[ANSWER]
I am often searching for a scene that tells a story. Not just an interesting subject, but often multiple interesting focal points in the image. My wide angle work often includes a foreground that draws the viewer into the scene. This might involve curving or diagonal lines, textures, shapes, patterns. I enjoy finding a scene with contrasting colors (warm and cool hues) that complement each other and thus make the image more visually appealing. And lastly, I look at textures, how the different textures in the scene can work together to create a more dynamic image.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
This could have been WAY better, which annoys me a bit. A lot of Weavers photos are landscape and cityscape shots and although I wanted to mimic some of them I found it was pretty difficult during this time; so I settled for his "Fallen Oak Leaf" photograph. I obviously like his a lot more than mine as he effectively contrasts the leaf from the mossy mound. I took my photo sort of on a whim because I had to quickly find a leaf before spring. I didn't have that much fun taking this picture because I know I could have done better.
I liked taking this picture even though I think I could have taken it better during the spring. Even though I took it in February when rain and snow is still prevalent, I think I did a good job in bringing out some of the color in the picture. I initially took a portrait shot of the bush but realized that I had to mirror it to the Weavers photo so I cropped it to also give it the horizontal shape. I think Weavers definitely looks better because he was really able to bring out the leaves color. I had fun taking this but again I think I could have done better if the class took place during a better season!
This is my favorite photograph out of the three. For this Image I had to work hard to find a similar type of lighting, and cloudy sky. I was unsure If I was even going to be able to take this picture because we are still sort of in winter. Although they were taken at different times in the day I think I did a good job of matching the sky. In all, my photo has a stronger contrast (which I like) because it makes the photo more vivid and detailed.
[ARTIST STATEMENT]
There were photos Weaver took that strongly appealed to me, but would have been hard to replicate given many of his were taken on location. But all in all I enjoyed taking some of the pictures although initially I had trouble choosing which images to recreate because he has a lot of photographs. I hope that my three pics all depict Weaver's idea of nature telling stories. Like the first one (Fallen Oak Tree) I feel is meant to represent the many contrasts that nature has, while the second one (Needles) is meant to show the pattern and togetherness it also maintains. My personal favorite -the last picture- (Dune-grass and Blue Sky) conveys a sense of solitude seeing the dunegrass silently moving.
SOURCES
IMAGE LINKS
- DUNEGRASS AND BLUE SKY
https://www.neilweaverphotography.com/portfolio/G0000q4QARF9CBC8/I0000f7lhe3HH2Yg
- NEEDLES
https://www.neilweaverphotography.com/portfolio/G0000q4QARF9CBC8/I0000btoxTgOBecM
- FALLEN OAK LEAF
https://www.neilweaverphotography.com/portfolio/G0000q4QARF9CBC8/I0000cJPAQ4sySuA
https://www.neilweaverphotography.com/portfolio/G0000q4QARF9CBC8/I0000f7lhe3HH2Yg
- NEEDLES
https://www.neilweaverphotography.com/portfolio/G0000q4QARF9CBC8/I0000btoxTgOBecM
- FALLEN OAK LEAF
https://www.neilweaverphotography.com/portfolio/G0000q4QARF9CBC8/I0000cJPAQ4sySuA