Interview with Edward Fielding, Fine Art Photographer – Reprint
Edward Fielding, Fine Art Photographer (Grantham, NH) USA
EWW: I am curious to know what qualities of your work would others comment on?
Edward: I strive for high quality, compelling images with strong composition and interesting subjects. They might not be the most obvious subjects but I try to make heroes out of them.
EWW: What do you experience as some of the biggest challenges in your photography?
Edward: I find the biggest challenge to connect the viewer with my personal vision. What I see is not always what the viewer sees, a successful image brings a different perspective. It can be an everyday object like a vintage typewriter, an old roller-skate or abandoned car, something most people pass by without noticing. I succeed if the viewer stops to explore the image the way I did with my camera.
EWW: Your subject matter, as well as your techniques, are very eclectic. Do you have a subject matter and style that you particularly like to focus on?
Edward: I shoot for a boutique stock photography agency that specializes in the publishing industry so I’m always on the lookout for images that might be perfect for the cover of a mystery, horror or crime novel. Images with some intrigue and room for imagination.
I also enjoy still life photography, food photography and landscapes photography on my travels around the world but I try not to end up in the same well-trodden paths you see every day on Instagram. I’d much rather challenge myself to find something interesting a few miles from the house then fly to the other side of the world to take the same picture you’ve seen a zillion times.
I’ll aim my camera at anything with great lighting and when traveling I extensively research an area for out of the way interesting subject. Recently I’ve been shooting in a lot of old abandoned mining areas in Utah, Nevada and Montana. Basically photographing what humans have left behind on the landscape.
I’ve been drawn to the New Topographics movements in which photographs show a man-altered landscape. It seems more honest than the fantasy landscapes of the Ansel Adams style. Walker Evans documentary style is also a big influence as I look back at my portfolio.
I’m also known for a series of photographs I’ve done with my Westie, Tiki as well as some of his dog friends. These images have appeared on magazines covers and in the book “the Quotable Westie” and “Pugs”.
EWW: Some of your galleries on your website display Black & White images. How do you choose to work in color or black & white with and image?
Edward: With every image I decide if the best story is told in color or black and white. Full-color images are typically about the color whereas monochromatic images focus more on the subject, the light, the texture, the lines and the details.
Color is often about a mood or emotion which can be conveyed through post-processing choices such as saturation. Black and white images also are worked on in post-processing mainly to increase the drama and bring out textures and details.
EWW: Excluding subject matter, are there themes that consistently run through your individual works and galleries, such as colors, perspective, lighting, movement, style, etc.?
Edward: I think I have a stripped-down style typically focusing on single important subject. More of a portrait of the subject be it an old tractor on a farm in Vermont, a dairy cow in New Hampshire or a waterfall in Iceland. I tend to work to isolate the subject so the focus is clear on the subject I’m interested in.
EWW: How do you used social media platforms? If you do use social media, which one(s) work the best for you?
Edward: I’m on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest. I find Youtube is a fun creative outlet, I try to capture my perspective in short videos. I’ve messed around with everything from showcase videos to some really artsy ones combining vintage voice overs with my work.
Pinterest being a visual platform is probably the one that works best in bringing buyers to my prints.
I also blog about my photographs and other interests such as teaching kids how to build and program robots and restoring vintage pinball machines at dogfordstudios.com
Website:
https://edward-fielding.pixels.com
Blog: dogfordstudios.com