Artist’s Surreal Architecture Series Blends Style and design and Images
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Photographer, artist, and printmaker Tom Leighton captured Dubai and Abu Dhabi architecture in surreal photograph collection that masterfully blend style and design and photography.
Leighton, primarily based in the United Kingdom, properly trained at the Royal Faculty of London wherever he discovered how to expertly layer and manipulate photographic pieces. The central concept of his do the job is the surroundings, be it “the nightlife of foliage” in his “Variegation” series or potent, contemporary structures devoid of surroundings, featured in his newest challenge “Loci.”
“Although almost all of my get the job done requires photography as portion of the method, I selected to examine printmaking alternatively than focus in photography,” Leighton tells PetaPixel. “I was then capable to investigation how unique print media, these kinds of as etching and display screen printing, may well effect on the photographic image, as a result of the approach of manipulation, stripping down and deconstruction.
“During my MA at the Royal Faculty of Artwork, I was experimenting with these opportunities along with my core operate with the electronic manipulation of pictures,” he provides. “Aspects of just about every of the methods fed into and knowledgeable the other — and I imagine this has served me to develop fairly a malleable approach to photographic composition.”
Architecture Photographs That Go a Phase Even more
“Loci” was developed following Leighton’s experiments with isolating and getting rid of the context of these massive structures in his shots. As he begun to manipulate, multiply, and colour them, “they became a fewer direct illustration of the spots and extra of a distorted memory.”
It was the hazy gradient backgrounds that added a surreal and disconnected excellent, that Leighton needed to check out more in the collection. For this venture, he selected properties from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
“My visits to these towns were pretty short but the long lasting memory of encountering these sites was the ambition and diversity of the megastructures that jostle for posture in the desert atmosphere,” he explains.
“The elaborate and unrestricted style made them ideal for generating these surreal sculptural varieties,” which are additional distorted and their geometric precision are emphasized.
“Devoid of surroundings and context, the structures now become sculptures that are about form alternatively than their function,” he adds.
From the First Concept to the Closing Photo
In the system of this and other architecture-based mostly collection, Leighton attempts to capture structures from each conceivable angle. This frequently usually means he has to appear for elevated vantage factors in adjacent structures, rooftops, and even fairground rides.
“Often different views of the very same constructing will feature in a one composition so it is essential to accumulate all of the items of my future jigsaw though I am out taking pictures,” Leighton points out his course of action. “Sometimes you can locate the best joining part in a shot that was earlier neglected.”
During the enhancing phase, Leighton doesn’t stick to a rigorous workflow. Instead, he attempts distinct techniques and combinations, which makes it possible for the ultimate strategy to evolve organically. From time to time, this also indicates abandoning some of the drafts along the way, only for them to emerge later as aspect of a coherent assortment.
Future Picture Tasks Are Calling
Due to the fact he was restricted by pandemic vacation restrictions, Leighton moved his aim to regional areas.
“I dwell in a rural space and this shift has been from architecture, to rock formations and woodland,” he points out. “There are absolutely some parallels in how I method both equally and I hope the chance to experiment has a long lasting impact on my potential perform.”
But, with the environment opening up bit by bit, Leighton seems ahead to visiting new nations around the world and cities to obtain content for his potential work.
A lot more of Leighton’s perform can be identified on his web site and Instagram.
Image credits: Photos by Tom Leighton.
