Creating “Nature Portals ”, An exhibition of new macro photographic artworks by Andy Rasheed.

I am very excited to announce my upcoming solo exhibition, “Nature Portals, by Andy Rasheed.” A fantastical collection of abstract macro photographs of Australian plants. Hopefully, to be a travelling exhibition, it will be launched at Flinders Medical Centre as part of their Arts in Health programme, and run across February and March 2023, in the Promenade gallery A.

Nature Portals will be my first solo exhibition of new works in exactly twenty years. My last solo exhibition was in March 2003 at the SA Museum, which saw over 30,000 people through their main gallery. 

Over two months I devoted every available moment to taking photographs. I was completely engrossed in a joyous process of unexpected discoveries and intense observation. It took shooting about 8,000 frames to uncover the 20 images that make up the final collection. I've been completely indulgent with my explorations, as my only real limitation was how much energy I was prepared to spend generating the work. I went all out, and it really was one of the most satisfying projects of my creative life. 

My aim was to create a collection of individually powerful images, that together could facilitate a journey of various moods and feelings. All this through a macro window, no wider than 3cm. Though not botanical studies, it’s obvious these are images of part of a plant.

I have always set myself strict parameters when creating a body of images and my approach with Nature Portals was as follows. Create a photograph of an Australian native plant as it interplays with sunlight. Keep technical interference to a minimum by using one lens in a fixed setting and get the shot in-camera. I use a macro lens at full magnification, with the aperture wide open, and no filters. Having the aperture wide open allows the maximum possible light in through the lens. I can shoot handheld to facilitate an incredibly simple, and quite traditional photographic process. What I am seeing through the viewfinder is incredibly close to the finished photograph, and post-production on this work is very minimal. Cleaning up any blemishes and very basic contrast and saturation adjustments. 

Strick parameters would seem the enemy of creativity, but it’s quite the opposite. Having firm boundaries to work within pushes the need for unique problem-solving, which by my definition is creativity. It forces deep investigation into the potential of every opportunity. I'll return over and over to see what other options I have when shooting a simple flower. This creative discipline has paid off as I am still able to find new expression within a seemingly exhausted subject matter. The major leap forward with this body of work is the development of my specific shallow depth of field techniques. I have way more control of the lighting through my knowledge of the plant's position in relation to the sun. That's not to say I have mastered light, I'm still discovering anomalies, but I'm more able now of creating particular looks. Needless to say, the learnings from making my artworks have had a huge influence on my commercial work and my other artistic endeavours.

The origins of my deep dive into macro photography started when my kids were very small. There was virtually no time to get out into nature to make new art. One of the few times I did manage to go exploring, I happened to take my macro bellows. Sitting in one spot, I made a number of exciting images in quick succession. It was a lightbulb moment as I recognised the outrageous ways light can behave in the shallow depth of field macro environment. From that moment on, I was totally addicted. I was able to shooting these intensely beautiful and intricate miniature tableaux on my driveway with my kids running around my feet. The shackles were off.

Through macro photography, I am not beholden to waiting for an awesome lighting event or the need to travel somewhere spectacular. Bright sun and plants are the basic ingredients. The nuances of sunlight hitting leaves and flowers is an inexhaustible source of inspiration to me. The idiosyncrasies of a wide open lens and proximity to the subject of macro photography, in conjunction with the interplay of light on the surfaces of the plants, are utterly spectacular. Most of the images I am making are shot in my yard in the Adelaide Hills.  

Another important aspect of this work for me is to aim for incredibly simple compositions. In my opinion, some of the most important images I have created are the simplest. Images so quiet, that the subject becomes irrelevant and all that is left is balance and colour.

There is an expectation of sharpness and legibility around photography. There is a depth to the image that can be achieved through softness, colour and minimal focus interplaying with the edges that form incidentally at the boundaries of unfocused light. I am much more interested in what can be achieved through vibrance, form, colour, balance and aberrations in light. The work was made by responding to what I was seeing in real time, it had very little to do with thinking. I’d hope it can be viewed in a similar way, bypassing the intellect to generate a mood or feelings. I feel with this work I have made bolder decisions about by what metric I define a good photograph.

I have invested hundreds of hours into developing and trying to manage some of these techniques to really harness this aesthetic. The potential of how light behaves on certain surfaces will yield results that look like they must have been computer generated. It's all coming from nature and quite a traditional photographic process. This is a process of developing an uncompromising visual language through a concerted effort and spontaneity. The resulting works are random, electric, dynamic and vital and I’m in love with them!