Photographing nature, especially botanicals, is pure joy for me. It gets me outdoors and out of my head.
There is a childlike wonder when I step into a garden with my camera.
I find peace and serenity from the distractions that, at times, can crowd out mindfulness. In this context, photography is both healing and therapeutic for me.
Nature speaks to me beyond words, with its vibrant colors, earthy fragrances, the light touch of a raindrop, and the sound of waves and rolling surf. All my senses come alive as I become fully engaged in the moment. When I sit quietly and take in the beauty of a tropical leaf with veins highlighted by backlit sun, or trace the spiral of seeds on the head of a sunflower, or stand under the canopy of a giant European beech tree, there is a sense of magic, of timelessness, and I feel connected to something much greater than myself.
Over the course of 40 years of focusing on learning the craft of photography, I became challenged and inspired to move away from creating realistic and representational images of what I was seeing, and toward creating more personal images of what I was feeling. My love of black-and-white photography became my favorite medium for revealing the many emotions that arise when I am out with my camera. The interplay of black and white, with hundreds of shades of gray, is creatively used to shape the emotional tone of my photographs. I utilize composition, contrast, and light to put more of myself into my images. Without the allure of color, I am forced to slow down and focus more closely on the shapes, forms, and abstract patterns I find in nature.
By adding textures and structure to my images, I intensify the drama I am experiencing and try to recreate the many emotions that arise when I get that “inner nudge” to press the shutter. The same is true when I process the image digitally, as well as when I finally print it. Each step of the process has its own set of feelings that contribute a piece to the outcome of the final print, which can sometimes be made months after I have taken the original photograph. My photographs become the visual manifestation of what I am seeing as well as feeling.
Nearly all of my botanical photographs are taken outdoors: in arboretums, conservatories, public and private gardens, as well as in my own gardens. In fact, one of the many benefits of following my passion for photographing botanicals is that I have become an avid gardener. I grow many of the flowers that I enjoy photographing, actively participating in the complete life cycle of my plantings. This unique bond gives me the opportunity to capture and create more intimate images at various stages of development. It is no wonder that no matter where I travel on my life’s journey, I always seem to find myself back in a garden, often with a trowel in one hand and my camera in the other.
About Barry Guthertz
Barry Guthertz has been exhibiting his fine art photography throughout the Northeast for over 35 years. His award-winning work has appeared in the Brooklyn Museum, the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti, Africa, the French Embassy in New York City, the General Electric and Union Carbide corporate galleries, as well as the Silvermine Gallery in New Canaan and the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich, CT.
He has had numerous solo exhibitions and has participated in group shows in New York City, throughout Fairfield County, CT, where he lives, in Portland, OR, and in London, England. His work has appeared on the covers of LensWork and Shadow & Light magazines, and his portfolios have been showcased multiple times in LensWork, B&W, and All About Photo, as well as featured in Shadow & Light magazine. [Official Website]
