Henry
Bateman is a painter turned digital. During the Eighties, he studied
fine art, with a painting major, at the Claremont School of Fine
Art. Since then he has had three one man exhibitions and participated
in numerous group exhibitions. He has also been heavily involved
in theatrical set & lighting design for ballet, light opera
and straight theatre.
Throughout he was an analogue photographer with
a Ricoh SLR sharing space with sketchpads, charcoal and pastels.
He had a few works published in life style magazines & corporate
reports, but mainly used his photography as a handmaiden for his
other pursuits. “Capture the moment, record the detail for inclusion
in another work,” he says, “And from time to time capture an image
suitable for publication.”
His last “traditional” work, created in 2000, was
a carved painting for a government agency depicting the dignity
of their work. During that project, he discovered digital photography.
Shortly after he purchased a Fuji point and shoot
digital camera which was quickly followed by PhotoShop software.
Its immediacy and control have him in its thrall. “The beauty of
being a painter is the magical moment when the painting comes to
life and tells you what to do,” he states. “Working with digital
photography is like that. You start with an image and as you play
with it on the computer it comes to life and reveals its secrets.”
With his point & shoot in hand, often literally
shooting from the hip, Bateman wanders the streets looking for those
moments when we reveal ourselves to the world. He also indulges
his theatrical leanings with his documentation of street performers
in their many and varied routines. “ I love my point & shoot,”
he adds. “It, along with a folded street map make me look like a
tourist, non-threatening, ignorable, just one of the crowd.”
The brushes have been abandoned as he paddles in
the pixel playground. “It is the best of both worlds,” he says.
“There’s the technical accuracy of the camera combined with creative
tools of the software. I can work the image the same as I did with
a painting. And how much do I love the freedom to experiment that
the undo edit provides.”
email: henryjean@iprimus.com.au
web site: www.pissedpoet.com
SEPTEMBER
2003 FOTO ART MAGAZINE
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