…..or at least show us a new vision.

Every year around this time, a group of us travel to the Academy of Art in SF to review, recruit, and advise the students who are taking their firsts steps into the pro world. Most have graduated but many are in their mid college experience.
I’ve been doing this on behalf of the photography masters department, led by James Woods for about 5 years now, and the work just gets better and better.

And I have to give each person that came in through the reviewing room, HUGE props, because quite honestly, they are all very brave souls. To have graduated one day, and then subject your portfolio to immediate appraisal by folks you don’t know, that takes a big heaping, helping of courage.
Even though in the workplace, it can, and will, be brutally honest, I applaud those that brought their work into our group of reviewers.

There were 3 stand-outs photographers this year, that we’ll share with. Each one works in a different area, and each one has a body of work with power. And like all superheroes, each power is different.

Ashley Adams
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Ashley came in with a combo set of images: those that she is completely passionate about , and those that she felt would be best for getting the work.
In her case, all that was needed were 2 separate cases.

[photopress:abstract_1jpg.jpg,full,centered]Kelp © Ashley Adams
The photograph above could’ve been hanging in any gallery today. She has taken a look at nature and gave it a painterly treatment while maintaining the fine detail of the photograph.

To be able to see the subtle color shifts in a natural, organic piece may seem obvious, but she has chosen the absolutely best approach, giving the viewer a sweet melange of color and shape in one image. I’d hang that in my home today.

Then she does it again in an edgier approach to kelp, with a viscous random pattern, and a brilliant color scheme with hints of yellow-y orange to break up the cool, blue and black reflective patterns.

[photopress:abstract_2.jpg,full,centered] Redwood © Ashley Adams

Wait, let’s hear from the artist herself:

“My abstract series started as I waited for good light for more traditional landscape shots.
As it developed, I started to look for nature’s beauty where others were not looking.
The series is really about the colors and textures and patterns of nature. I wanted each photograph in the series to be unrecognizable because I found that when people don’t know what they are looking at, they begin to appreciate the true subject of the photos: nature’s vibrant colors, textures, and patterns. I also wanted people to look at my photos and think about what they are looking at and to get them to begin to interact with the photograph as they thought about what they are observing.
To help achieve that, I have tried to deceive peoples perceptions of what the subject is by shooting subjects of all different sizes.
Some of my shots are with macro lenses of very small shots while others are shot using a standard lens of subject 5-10 feet across while one shot was from the air of an object 2 miles across. If people don’t know how big the subject is, I find it makes it harder for them to guess what they are looking at and, going back to before, they start to really look at the colors, textures, and patterns.”

Yep, that about sums it up for us, Ashley.
Beautiful work.

You can contact her through her website, email :[email protected] or phone: 415.312.2590

Next, another student from the Academy of Art. Discover them with us.