The Photography of Damian J.A. Szydlo
MM's Most Proud Self Taught Artist Photographer
Photography is the Art of Light. It seeps over everything it touches. Uncontrolled, light can spill into an image and change its meaning. It can make a so called professional with the greatest equipment humble and elevate an amature to incredible levels. It is our job as photographers to master it, to feel it on all levels and be aware of its power. Only then can we hope to capture a moment as a piece of art.
Sculptors carve with chisel and hammer. Painters with brush and an illustrator with a pencil. A photographer uses light as his tool.
To this effect I seek to elevate myself without selfish desire. The art. So very few try and prove themselves worthy of the name photographer while keeping that one word pure. A vision enters my mind, plays before its eye and tries to get out. I exercise this through the lens of a camera. At times the vision is grand, as much an idea as an image. Others it is simple. What never changes is the moment, the one that exists when the vision becomes a reality interpreted by the talent involved. No other art form is such a collaboration as this.
Things that I have come to realize about photography:
-To test ourselves is to test the boundaries of imagination as well as personal skill.
-Nudity is a device and a means to accent emotion in a piece, it should never be the reason.
-You know nothing if you think you know something. We are eternal students of something intangible. You can make pretty pictures all night long but until you learn to feel that thing running through you, they are all you’ll ever make. Learn from every experience in this field you are blessed to acquire.
-Rules are made to be broken in this field, some of the greatest photos in the world defy what you might learn in a book.
-Change and challenge are the same. Embrace them in your work from time to time and know it for truth.
Further Note:
Selective TFCD: Never be afraid to ask, I'm really an approachable guy despite my demeanor above.
References Available Upon Request
Have an interesting shoot location or idea? Tell me about it and maybe we can work something out to use it! Sometimes I find inspiration for one of my pieces by using a models suggestion as a foundation and building/interpreting upon it.
Recently Published in Gothic Beauty #26! Check out the article on Toronto's very own Decedent Designs!
Back to work and ready to make the most compelling pieces of my artistic career. Now scheduling shoots for October, please don't hesitate to inquire! Looking to make new contacts!
