Analysis on chosen image

Graham Jeffery

'FREE RADICAL'

As a smoke artist Jeffery creates images of burning incense sticks, editing them post image using digital enhancements so that the natural beauty of the smoke is revealed. With the particular image I chose, shown below, I felt the contrast of the colours within the photograph are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, this, coupled with the fluid, lucid shape in which the media of the smoke creates gives a sense of freedom and is almost connotative of animal imagery, particularly sea life. the image could be seen to portray the depths of the ocean, where the water is so vast the light is very minimal except the magnificent neon sea creatures roaming below.
The image is very abstract and linking to the media and technique of the photograph, smoke art, the scientific element makes the image very much organic. I like the way this image could never be recreated and is unique in its own right. Graham Jeffery has depicted the beauty of science in this one complex image. The layering of the smoke with the added colour contrast and high saturation, gives the image a lot more depth and intrigue, almost creating a 3d form. 
The naming of the image "free radical" links with the feeling and mood it communicates. Looking deeper into the image the pattern formed from the free moving smoke is almost reminiscent of the blood vessels within the human body and the flow of free blood pumping into the core in order to create life, therefore this idea again plays on the the scientific technique of the image.  
As I am researching such scientific photography myself, I will develop the research from this artist to create some similar images. However, it may be nice to consider different thickness/types of smoke and not focus on incense sticks alone, in a similar way I could experiment with Photoshop as well as video to explain the process of the technique. Additionally, as I have recently created a video on surrealism, with a vast amount of smoke, edited with premier pro, a video in a similar manner may depict a trance/dream like state also.


Details: 

Image Capture Data
File Name	27-Feb-10-4297.jpg
Taken on	Saturday 27th February 2010 at 7:01 pm
Camera	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens	EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Focal length	100m
ISO	100
Aperture	f/16.0
Shutter	1/200 sec
Orig. crop	5204 x 3217
Viewed	13082 times