Piled rocks...

Photography has many dimensions. Even though it somehow describes reality, it also transcends it. When you press the shutter, there is decision in that moment. The person behind the lens has taken the conscious decision to capture that exact moment.

It may, or may not have, taken a lot of other decisions. Some technical, some artistic in nature, these decision do not affect the reality, but they affect our (the photographer’s) perception of that reality.

The surrealists are very fond of the concept of the “found object”. An everyday object that can somehow taken out of context (or into context, as you prefer) and be a part of an artistic piece.

Although I don’t perceive myself as a surrealist, I also like the concept of the “found object”. I like to include everyday objects in my photography. The reason behind it is that I force myself to discover some artistic aspect in objects that would not be that interesting from the onset.

This pushes my artistic boundaries and sometimes technical boundaries as well. It’s not an easy exercise to really discover beauty in these things. But then you find that it’s your own subjectivity that is being put into question. It’s quite introspective.

Ok, maybe sometimes you just take pictures of rocks and it’s only later that you find some kind of meaning to it. That’s ok as well. There is no plan, fine! Whatever works for you...

This particular pile of rocks was photographed in Cairo, with a Lomo Compact Automatic. A wonderful tool for artistic freedom, as the only thing you can (roughly) define is the focal distance. It’s really liberating as it forces you into the more artistic aspects of photography.

I encourage everyone to try different formats, as they all have their particular appeal.