The online art magazine Art Insight has written a review about one of my photographs. The article titled "Bruce Cowell - Capturing the Eternal in the Everyday" Concentrates on the image "Canberra Airport" but looks at my work more generally as well.
June 2024
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Forest Fantasy
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The majority of my photographs are post processed in terms of tonal range and contrast and sometimes sharpness but without any significant image editing in terms of content. There are, however, a few exceptions where I have significantly altered the image with creative intent. Never to deceive, the editing is obvious. This image “Forest Fantasy” is such a work and was created to say something very specific. Creating this image today would be relatively easy in Photoshop using various digital tools and layers. It was not created this way as it was produced in the 1990s when I was still using film and silver printing. The production process was complicated and required many steps.
The image has been very successful and has appeared in the international art magazine “Spotlight” and is currently on the “Art Collector” Linkedin page and has been reviewed in the international art magazine "Art Curator".
It prints well at about 1000mm horizontally and could well go larger.
I think the reason it has been so successful is because it speaks about one of those themes that is universally experienced, love.
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Bruce Cowell 2024
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In the mid 1500s the artist Giorgio Vassari published a book of biographies of the important artists of his time. It made Vassari the first art historian and it's largely through this work that we know so much about the artists of the Renaissance.
Published in Italy by La Notizia, a new book called 'Biography- Contemporary Art' takes the idea from Vassari and brings it into the present day. It includes 154 visual artists from around the world and presents a short biography of the life and work of each. There are many well known artists included and I feel honoured that I have been selected as one of the artists (pages 24-25). Only three photographers have been included in the book.
It is produced as a digital publication but is also available in print.
The book can be seen at:
https://www.calameo.com/books/0072888865619532c2c1f
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Fine Art Photography
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Fine-Art photography is a fairly vague term and its meaning is difficult to pin down. Photography these days tends to be divided into different genres depending largely on the subject areas. That is, that the subject of the photograph determines its genre. I have worked professionally over the years in many different genres of photography. Landscape, wildlife, scientific, photo-journalism, public relations, advertising, commercial as well as portraiture and weddings. While each does have its own way of working with its own visual language and aesthetic, they all work within the overarching language of photography, which has, like all languages, the purpose of communication.
We photographers try to communicate with our audience at a subliminal level in ways that can be difficult to put into words. Inevitably, that makes the message very personal. It has long been said of photography that a photograph tells us more about the photographer than it does about its subject. That's true of course for all visual art. It's always a personal statement from the artist. The fact that many artists have a distinct and recognisable style comes down to this point, it's personal. A photograph speaks of who we are as people and creates a link between the photographer and its audience and it's that link that gives photography value. Photographs are always about people even if there are no people in the photograph. They are ultimately about communication between two people, the photographer and the person seeing the photograph.
Some photographs can cross into a whole other realm and become iconic, subjective and eternal. They speak of eternal truths that are as recognisable today as they were a thousand years ago. To name those truths would be to limit them but every human understands instinctively what they are. Language, culture, lifestyle, distance, do not limit that understanding. Photography speaks at a human level and all humans understand it.
In Fine-Art Photography the subject of a photograph becomes metaphorical. Even though it's a real subject existing in the real world it speaks of something much deeper, more important and touches upon human emotions in ways that only the visual arts can do.
Fine-art photography does not have subject genres and can cross into any area of photography, which is why it's so difficult to pin down. What matters I think is that it speaks to us at a deeply human level about those things that are most important to us and touches our emotions. My view is that fine-art photography exists to find the eternal in the everyday. Those moments that transcend time and place and link us to the universe.
It's an interesting area in which to work, often the choice of what to call fine-art photography is difficult, vague and ill-defined. There would be many to disagree with me about my choices and I'm sure I don't always get it right. The fact that my collective work is now well established internationally and has received praise from those who matter gives me hope. I find it interesting that my work has received recognition in Europe and to some extent in the U.S. but not in Australia.
I suspect that stems from the different paths that photography as an art form has taken in Australia, and the UK to some extent, where my style of work is not fashionable. I think Australian photography would benefit from a broader, more multi-faceted view of photography as art.
There's no doubt that the European legacy of the invention and development of photography is of benefit to me. The great names in European photography such as Atget, Brassai, Doisneau, Kertesz, Cartier-Bresson created a European style that still has potency there. It's those names who inspired and informed my own development as a photographer.
Nature photographer, landscape photographer, photo-journalist, advertising photographer, commercial photographer, wedding photographer, scientific photographer, I've called myself all of those at some point but running parallel to those has been what I now see as fine-art photography. It has formed the foundation for all of the rest.
There have been times when my images have crossed those vague, ill-defined boundaries that separate fine-art photography from something else, but I find it interesting that people will see something in a photograph that I did not. Photography involves at least two people and both bring something that creates the art. In the photographs here I create part of the image and the viewer completes it by applying their own unique viewpoint that is informed by their own life experience. These images should not be viewed as finished works but as artworks we can complete together.
That, I think, is the heart and soul of photography.
The images on this web site are a selection of what I see as fine-art photography. They are presented here as images that transcend time and place and provide a connection between us and the universe.
The fact that most are in monochrome is no accident. Monochrome is one step away from the "here and now" reality and that makes it easier to see the deeper meaning. It doesn't have to be so but it's why I like to work in black and white.
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Bruce Cowell 2023
"Fleeting"
This photograph explores the concept that we are specks of dust floating through space. There's no reason for it and the only meaning it has is the meaning we choose to give it. Of all the infinite meanings we could choose, Love is the one that inspires us, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the fleeting nature of our lives.
Bruce Cowell 2023
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Having worked in photography for more than forty years I've been involved in most areas of conventional photography. Though I haven't been a photo-journalist as we know it my work has quite often taken me into the genre of photo-journalism. The images here were taken in Brisbane during the rather turbulent time of the 1970s and 80s. What I learned from shooting the social unrest of this time was how important it was to, as far as possible, be in the centre of the action and to get in very close. Situations often became very physical and I learned not to use my best and most expensive equipment because it was likely to get damaged. I purchased very cheaply a Hanimex Holiday rangefinder camera that had seen better days. After a few minor repairs such as the shirt button to hold down the winding lever I found that the 45mm lens was surprisingly sharp. These images were taken with this camera. I think it illustrates that we can get carried away with having the best equipment. One thing I have learned over these forty years is that a camera is just a tool and it's how we use it that's important. Cameras don't create great photographs, photographers do.
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Bruce Cowell 2024
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Looking back over almost fifty years in photography I can identify most of the influences that have lead me to where I am. There comes a point when outside influences begin to fade and you start to develop your own way of seeing the world and expressing that unique vision through your work. Then comes another stage where you actively limit the influence from outside so that your own creativity can express itself freely. It’s an interesting process that takes time and practice. It’s also a very complex process driven by many forces that are dependent on opportunities as well as your own approach to life and work. Over time it takes on a life of its own and is self driven. How it begins is an interesting question and one that often has bearing on how it develops. In my case I can trace its beginning almost to a single event when in 1959 at the age of nine years I watched the French movie “The Red Balloon”. Now seen as one of the classics of French cinema it was a simple story for children but had depth for adults. It wasn’t the story that impressed me so much as the visual aesthetics of the film. Shot composition, lighting, particularly the use of back-light created a visual style that kick-started something in me that would illuminate my journey through photography. I recently saw the film again on YouTube and was surprised by the way my own work since has been influenced by that visual style. Of course that film itself grew out of an aesthetic that was well established. An essentially European aesthetic that produced and was driven by the artists of the early 1900s. In the years following I discovered the work of the great photographers of the 30s, 40s and 50s and it was essentially their work that has informed the development of my own. I have always felt an affinity with the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson whose influence over my work cannot be overstated.
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Bruce Cowell 2024
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World Expo 1988
In the lead-up to World Expo 1988 which was staged in Brisbane I was asked to produce a series of photographs to be projected on to the underside of the giant white sun-sails that covered most of the Expo site. I was asked to work on two of the sails. One over the tropical rainforest area and one over the pavilions of most of the south east Asian countries. Sixteen large “Pani” projectors costing over $100,000 each were purchased to project the images. They were only capable of projecting a single image which had to be changed manually but I wanted continually changing images that could be sequenced automatically by computer. An engineering company in Melbourne was contracted to design and build such a mechanism for all sixteen projectors which they did brilliantly. The projector light was so intense and emitted so much heat that my images had to be enlarged onto much larger glass plates and embedded in resin so that they wouldn't melt or burn.
The production and projection of the images cost between three and four million dollars.
I spent some weeks sourcing tropical orchids and butterflies to produce semi-abstract images that would suit the shape of the sails. I also spent a very intense week in Canberra visiting most of the south-east Asian embassies photographing many cultural artifacts such as Malaysian kites, Thai silk designs, Chinese masks and many wood carvings. There was no digital photography in those days so all of the photographic work had to be done using film, prisms and complicated rigs that I had to build myself. It would be much easier now.
Computers weren't as fast then as now so the sequencing was quite slow but in the end it all worked. It was all quite cutting-edge as the giant Austrian made projectors hadn't been used this way before and this was the first time they had been used in Australia. These are similar projectors to those now used to project images and designs onto the Sydney Opera House.
Quite a collection of resin coated glass sides were produced as each had a limited life and had to run for the full six months of the Expo.
These are a few images from the project.
Bruce Cowell 2024
Images projected on to the giant sun sails that covered much of the site of World Expo 1988 in Brisbane, Australia.
This image titled "Passing Through" is an example of how I try to see through the immediate presence of a subject and look for a deeper meaning. To find the eternal in the everyday. It is not a narrative that tells a story but works through a visual language that speaks of how we search for meaning in our lives and how we deal with the forces over which we have little or no control. We like to think that we have control over our lives. To do otherwise would render life meaningless.
Each person will experience this photograph according to their own world view and life experience and in doing so add their own creative element. The art work that emerges will be one that we have created together.
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PASSING THROUGH
Photograph by Bruce Cowell
500X360mm
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Half a century in photography is a long time. Much has changed since I started. I could never had imagined where it is today. When I started it was a somewhat difficult and technical pursuit in cameras, chemistry and various film types. Today, everyone can and does produce excellent photographs, approximately 61,400 every second. I find it interesting that the basic techniques of photography that I learned early on still have resonance today. Particularly monochrome or black and white. There is a unique aesthetic embodied in monochrome photography that is completely different to colour. For most of the history of photography there has only been monochrome and over time it has become a powerful visual force. My photography was born in, and was nurtured by, this extraordinary aesthetic. For me its power is created by the light and informed by its pioneers, such as the American Ansel Adams and the French photojournalist Henri Cartier Bresson.
The inspirational landscape photography of Ansel Adams informed my early approaches to the landscape and it has developed from there. My later landscape work in colour has been widely seen in many publications but my earlier work in black and white is not really known. It is this work however, that has laid the foundations of image composition and the use of light and shade that drives my work today, both in monochrome and colour. Ansel Adams struggled with colour as do I. I find colour a distraction to the essential emotional message in a photograph. The landscape is not really about the physical place, it's about our emotional response and is ultimately about people and our need to communicate. Each image contains a message that we feel rather than see. That message is a unifying one that not only links us to each other but speaks of our unbreakable connection to the landscapes of this extraordinary planet.
This collection of monochrome landscape photographs were mostly produced in the 1980s and 90s with a few more recent ones. The earlier ones were all taken with a Hasselblad 2000FCM medium format, 6x6cm, camera on black and white film.
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It's still officially uncertain how many people were killed by the Chinese military during the Tiananmen Square protests in June 1989 but estimates put the number in the thousands. The world was shocked by the actions of the Chinese authorities and many people came onto the streets of cities worldwide to protest. In my city, Brisbane, I attended a protest action near the city centre in part to add my support but also the photo-journalist in me said this was something that needed to be recorded for history. Using a Hasselblad camera with 50 and 250mm lenses and black and white film I took many photographs. I've been to many protest actions but this one stood out for the depth of anger and pain clearly on the faces of everyone there. I recorded those faces as best I could but those photographs have remained unpublished because I fear that by publishing them I could expose people to reprisals by the Chinese authorities. Either themselves or their families in China. And I believe even now 35 years later that is still a possibility. For now at least those photographs will remain unpublished with the exception of this one here which I don't think identifies anyone.
"For the Innocents Massacred in China 1989"
People sign a scroll for those killed at Tiananmen Square.
It remains an almost unbelievable atrocity that we can add to the list of other almost unbelievable atrocities that happen in our world almost every other day. In a world where it's now acceptable to murder children and babies to achieve our political aims how do we as artists respond?
“To send light into the darkness of men's hearts--such is the duty of the artist.” ― Robert Schumann
The composer Robert Schumann was right about the darkness in men's hearts and we can see that darkness expressing itself all around the world right now. As artists we have a responsibility to express the highest human ideals of truth, beauty and love in our work and to send those ideals out into the world to ensure they are alive and meaningful in our time. In doing so we will ensure that the darkness never wins.
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Bruce Cowell 2024
Canberra is a small city where it's difficult to keep secrets. In January 2023 word got out that a Ukrainian Antonov aircraft was making a brief visit to the city. The consensus was that it was to fly out very early one morning and a small crowd gathered outside the high wire fence around Canberra Airport which doubles as a military airport. I had never seen an aircraft of this size and was keen to see it take off. The information proved correct and just before dawn the giant aircraft started its preparations for departure. Of course I was hoping to get some photographs but there was barely enough light. Fortunately it was some time before this massive aircraft began to taxi to the runway by which time it was possible to shoot at about 1600ISO. I knew image noise would be a problem at that setting but it was better than nothing. As it moved along the runway it seemed that it would never get enough speed to take off but the nose lifted just in front of me. The sky was just getting a pink early morning glow as it lifted off the runway. I swapped lenses for my telephoto zoom and took about seven photographs as it headed into the sky. Unfortunately the shutter speed was too slow even with the lens wide open and six of those images were a bit unsharp. One however, was quite sharp and captured what I saw as a significant historical event. What it was carrying was a military secret but everyone understood that it was military equipment for Ukraines self defence. It was known that Australia was supplying Ukraine with military and other assistance and this photograph speaks of that international co-operation. It is a simple photograph but one that speaks of the human family coming together in the face of what could be seen as an existential threat. Certainly an existential threat to Ukraine but potentially to all of us. To me this image speaks of hope that we humans still have within us the capacity to work together to solve our problems.
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Bruce Cowell Nov 2024
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Landscape Photography – Keeping it Real
Too many landscape photographs these days are post processed to a point where they are not a real representation of the landscape. I think it’s important to keep it real because the landscape is something that everyone should be able to access. Idealised, manipulated and unreal images of places do not contribute to an understanding and appreciation of the natural environment. That’s not to say that the landscape shouldn’t be shown at its best. I believe it should, but it must be something that any viewer can go and see if they make the effort to be there at the right time or the right conditions. I think photo editing software has too much influence in landscape photography. Just because we can do something in photoshop doesn’t mean we should.
For me the landscape photograph like all photography relies on the light and in many, if not most landscapes, that means early morning or late afternoon. That inevitably means sleeping on site or travelling in the early hours to be on site by sunrise. My preference is early morning because of the low angle, the warm colours and the changing light. Late afternoon can be just as rewarding and that decision depends on the direction of the light and how it illuminates the landscape. The early morning light is not really the same as afternoon light. The humidity is often higher and this results in slightly softer, more diffused illumination, as well as the possibility of fog or at least some level of mistiness.
The photograph here of the cover of the book “A Wild Guide to Moreton Bay” is one that could only have been taken in the early morning. It was taken just minutes before the sun became visible. The warm light of the reflected sunlight along with the early morning mist work together to create the atmosphere in this image. I had only about two minutes to get this image before the quality of the light changed. There was a small group of pelicans just off to the left who had been moving around a bit so I hoped one of them would move into the shot within those two minutes. I think it’s safe to say that luck played a hand here but I’m often surprised by how circumstances can play into your hands if you are ready and aware. There was only time for about three frames with the pelican before it was gone and the light changed.
By this point the production of the book “Wild Guide to Moreton Bay” was almost ready to go to print and I didn’t have a cover shot that I was happy with. I was feeling the pressure when I went to Kedron Brook that morning but as soon as the pelican started flying to the right across the shot I felt that I had the cover. It wasn’t until later that afternoon when I had the 35mm film processed that I was certain. The important point here is that this image is a photograph of a real landscape that any person has a chance of seeing if they make the effort.
All of the photographs in this collection were taken in the early morning within minutes of sunrise. The cover shot for the book “Wild Places of Greater Brisbane” was taken at the “Main Range National Park” and is of Mount Mitchell (Cooyinnirra) in the cloud. The idea I had for the cover was a shot of Mount Cordeaux which is nearby. I camped at Spicers Gap and I remember it was quite cold when I walked out along the track towards Cunninghams Gap. It was just becoming light when Mt Mitchell came into view. I shot about a roll of 12 6X6cm images with a Hasselblad. I was happy with the shot so I didn’t pursue the Mt Cordeaux idea.
It is probably my most well known photograph and the book sold very well reaching number one on the best seller list. It stayed at number one for twelve straight weeks and I understand it remains one of the most successful books ever published in Queensland. I’ve been back to the site since and it has changed somewhat because of the undergrowth and tree cover and this shot would not have been possible at that time. It is however a landscape that anyone could see, if they were there at the right time and right weather conditions if only through the trees.
As a genre within the arts, landscape photography is an area where everything is subjective. It would be wrong to suggest that there is only one way of working. I would argue as an environmentalist the landscape should inform as well as motivate people to appreciate the natural world around them. I don't believe that an idealised representation of a landscape will speak as convincingly as a natural landscape at its best. I prefer to work with what nature provides rather than create something in photoshop that I didn't actually see on site.
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Bruce Cowell Jan 2025
