Paul Gladden Artist Reception

ABOUT THE GALLERY SHOW

We are all exposed to a wide variety of images, seeing them, yet perhaps not taking the time to stop and fully absorb what we're seeing. How do we set ourselves free of questions of meaning or representation of what we observe, to allow an image to enter our imaginations?

When photographing flowers, it's neither meaning, nor representation I'm looking for. I seek to engage my mind, and yours, via a process of discovery and creating fresh, personal meaning. Because I want the impression of the photo to feed the imagination, the photo won't need words to explain my thoughts at the moment of releasing the shutter.

My photographs go past the obvious beauty of a flower, expanding the notion of what it can be, by seeing it through the lens of my imagination! I'm seeing beyond the limited states of blossoming, bouquets, or dying. For me, the excitement is within the unlimited abstractions of shape and form, often sculptural in appearance, along with the interplay of light and dark, which all gets captured by my camera. These are but a few of those alluring occasions you now see before you.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in the Bronx, New York, Paul is a photographer by passion and a graphic designer out of his love for it.  He graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. This fall, he will attend California College of the Arts to work on a Masters in Photography.

Before Art Center College, Paul worked as an independent photojournalist, and editorial photographer for the Associated Press International, and the New York Times. The creative atmosphere of Art Center College only further ignited his excitement about photography, leading to his present passion for photographing flowers.

Along with being awarded an artist work grant by the nonprofit Pasadena Photography Arts, Paul's photography received an honorable mention with the IPA (International Photography Association),  and his work is in the collection of the Getty Museum and Archive.