Shape, Color and Texture Oh My...

I love, love, love taking pictures...

Sometimes I wonder if I should have been a photographer. My education was in graphic design, where I was first introduced to the camera. Photography was a large part of the curriculum and I learned everything old school in the darkroom. I didn't go further with it because I hated the chemicals (if I had only known the digital age was literally around the corner).  What my graphic design education really taught me, above all things, was to really “see” the world around me. To really look at things for their form and characteristics. I see objects as line, shape, color, texture and pattern before I really see what the object is. For this way of observing the world, I have the deepest gratitude toward my professors and education at The University of the Arts. 

I love taking pictures of nature, but I really love taking pictures of things like sidewalk cracks, rusty objects and unusual shadows. My favorite is peeling paint. When I am out with my friends sometimes they look behind and wonder where I am. I am usually back a half of a block taking a picture of something that inspires me. Most of them now know not to worry, Ilene’s just taking pictures, she’ll catch up. 

The photographs above show some of my inspiration pictures and a collection of six shots I took of peeling paint. I wanted to do something with them for the longest time. Then one day I mentioned in conversation to someone “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” and it hit me... “Its all about what’s underneath.” The peeling paint layers were perfect for the message I wanted to convey so with a little help from Photoshop, I created this series to hang in our dining room.  I continue to take lots of pictures wherever I go, sometimes too many, thanks to the age of digital. I weed through my library and upload the ones I like to Flickr, my online portfolio, so I always have them for inspiration wherever I am. Here’s a link to my Flickr portfolio. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ilenepricedesign/sets/