Why do I roll out of a perfectly warm bed at the crack of dawn, wrap a blanket around my body and hike to the edge of a cliff to capture the sunrise?
Good question!
Why do I bypass the quaint gift shops and ice cream shops in the hot tourist spots and drag my wife out to see a collection of old abandoned junk on the outskirts of an old mining town in Arizona?
That’s also a good question!
Why do I end up showing up at the last open restaurant in town five minutes before the kitchen closes because I lost track of time photographing an old ghost town in Utah?
Another good question!
I don’t have an art school background so the “philosophy” behind what drives my passion for photography and creating fine art photographs is not finely defined into a nice, museum ready artist’s statement.
Basically, I believe my motivation comes down to discovery, problem solving and simply creating. Photography allows me to express my ideas the quickest way possible.
I enjoy exploring the world and all of it’s layers – from urban environments to natural environments. I enjoy sharing with the world my unique way of seeing.
Explaining the how I do it is easy. I could talk about my camera equipment and my post processing technique. But the way takes a bit more doing.
When I was growing up I built a lot of models. I also had a model railroad. I was always tinkering with it. Building houses, adding details, weathering train cars to make them look more realistic. In my work, I’m often out capturing the same types of things as those models. Old vintage cars with glorious texture, old weathered houses with peeling paint and period details.
I find myself drawn to the same objects that I’d love to have added to my model railroad – steam engines, period cars, old houses, interesting buildings, old machinery. Anything with a bit of history and of course lots of texture and evidence of use.
I’m also attracted to capturing beauty. The beauty of a flower or the landscape of a National Park. Often it is the technical challenge that motivates me. Hiking to a great spot, finding a compelling composition, packing the right equipment, exposing the image for my final vision.
Why do I do what I do? It’s an inner drive to create and to explore this wonderful world of all kinds of surprises waiting around the corner.
Above: Fine art photographer Edward M. Fielding on location outside the old ghost town of Jerome, Arizona.