"Capturing the ‘perfect image’ is a combination of skill, patience, serendipity—and taking lots of shots."
David Phoenix is a fine art photographer with a penchant for conceptual and abstract imagery, usually in bright saturated color. After receiving a BFA in filmmaking and photography at Massachusetts College of Art, he worked two years in San Francisco promoting a film career. Upon returning to Boston, the film career eventually became a graphic design business—Phoenix Creative. Mr. Phoenix is currently concentrating on creating eclectic photo imagery full time. He lives in Stow, Massachusetts, exhibiting locally.
Capturing the “perfect image” is a combination of skill, patience, serendipity—and taking lots of shots. It’s always satisfying to get the picture I seek, but typically after image capture, I bring my photos to another level. I see the shot as a beginning, something I can get “painterly” with—to make it more conceptual or abstract. As darkroom technique has always been an essential part of the photographer’s mastery of imagery—Photoshop is my darkroom. This process of enhancement with Photoshop completes my relationship with the image.
In the past, I’ve been somewhat resistant to composite various shots to create something totally new—a hybrid so to speak. My traditionalist opinions have recently changed… Photographic art is all about the image, whether it is found or created. By combining elements of images in a painterly manner, I am enriching the image and the viewing experience. Ultimately, the medium has transformed me as I transform it.
