Featured Artist Ryn Clarke

Photographer Ryn Clarke presents her lovely portfolio and shares her inspiration. Visit her website to see more of her work.

 

 

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun,” a quote by Katherine Hepburn, pretty much sums up my life as an artist.  I have fun creating everyday with my camera. There are many themes in my work, as I draw from personal experiences and my enthusiasm.

 

 

Trees fascinate me, especially in the frosty winter. The simple lines of arcing grasses stop me in my tracks, as I know that I will be able to create many images from the pure forms. The intricacies of an orchid, blows me away. A broken down structure will create hours of endless fun. I experiment with different printing substrates: handmade paper, metal, acrylic, encaustic and alternative processes. It is a rare day that I don’t learn something new.

 

 

Never one to conform in life or in business, I like to take my image making as far to the edge as I can. I want my images to evoke a response, whether emotional or physical and if I can’t achieve it through the lens of my camera, then I will find a way to apply it in post-production.

 

 

All that said, I am presently working on several projects. “After Dark” documents the vanishing slice-of-life of drive-in theaters, while representing a nostalgic look back, both in the traditional equipment that I am using and in the post-processing of the images to black and white.

 

 

For 30 years, I have been documenting the changing landscape of I-77, from Ohio into West Virginia.…My Drive-Bys. I shoot as cities turned into towns, towns turned into farms, farms turned into wooded mountains; I watched as the first of the wind turbines started dotting the landscape while the tops of hills were being clear cut for wood and oil– all in the name of progress. I watched the coal towns diminish or completely disappear, while the resorts, gambling casinos and adult marts took their place.

 

 

I wanted to show the viewer things that they probably see and take for granted but may not inherently absorb. This project has turned into a commentary on how life changes under our eyes yet stays the same.

 

 

I have always created. Pursuing art was my life choice – it was what I felt, what I studied in school, what I knew I wanted to do. And I was good at it! My parents initially inspired me to create  – my father literally let me get my feet wet in his darkroom and that instilled a lifelong journey into photography. My work has often been described as a “wabi-sabi” approach to photography. Leonard Koren describes wabi-sabi as: “It is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble.” Simple and unconventional.

 

Ryn Clarke invites you to connect with her on Facebook.