Mary Bedy Photography

When you think of abstract art, does photography enter your mind at all? Or do you only think of work on paper or canvas? After all, when people in general think of photography, they think of a realistic rendering of a scene from the real world. That’s true, but I contend that a photograph can both represent something from the real world and still be an abstract representation, or at least an “abstracted” version , or a small piece of something making the image abstract by definition. I find myself drawn to abstract photography because it makes you stop and look. When I say “abstract”, I don’t necessarily mean just random shapes. I think of abstract as something depicted in a way that you would never see it in real life, or at least you would not notice in real life. Case in point - I have always enjoyed fireworks. I think they are loads of fun. When I take my camera with me to a fireworks display, I never try to capture the traditional “pretty”, perfect firework bursts. I keep the shu

Unleashed I really dislike the expression “thinking outside the box”. Whose box? What constitutes “outside the box?” Hasn’t pretty much everything been done and thought of by now? Well, maybe not technological breakthroughs that we may have never anticipated. But in this day and age of instant information, the minute we think we’ve discovered something new, it usually turns out whatever it is has either been around a long time, or someone (maybe Leonardo da Vinci) had thought of it eons ago even if it has not existed in real time and space yet. On the Court 42   I also have grown to dislike articles about photography that urge you to “think outside the box”. Generally, the advice goes something like this: Get under your subject instead of shooting it from the top. Try to get a backlit image of your subject so it’s just a silhouette. Get low to the ground so everything looks larger. Shoot a flower with the sun shining through it from behind, not with the sun directly on it. Etc. etc. Bo

One Two Three 4 People like to talk about themselves. Sometimes to the point of nausea if you are subjected to it for hours on end. I worked briefly with a person about five years ago who shall remain nameless that would never let you FINISH A SENTENCE (something my husband accuses me of all the time, which I admit, I do because I get enthusiastic about what he’s saying - sorry, dear), and was generally talking about himself all the time. This person annoyed me to the point where I really did not like him at all. And I like pretty much everybody unless he or she is a complete and utter jerk, in which case I just walk away. Carousel at night 2017 2   This is my way of saying I try not to talk about myself all the time, but this is my blog post and I’m going to talk about myself a little bit. One thing that fascinates me is what I don’t know about a person’s interests even after knowing them for a while. I find it interesting to learn what their “avocations” or personal study interest ar

Eye Exam Orange 072420 During this Covid lockdown, and due to the fact that it has been virtually impossible or at least ill-advised to travel very far, especially in groups of people, I have resorted to creating some digital designs for fun, art-related satisfaction, and maybe eventually some kind of profit, if someone decides they want to buy one of my designs for something fun to look at or to put it together as a puzzle. Alternate View I have noticed that when I create a digital abstract design (mostly because I don’t have a tablet pen yet, and it’s hard to draw anything realistic with your finger), they tend to come out looking a bit mid-century modern. I don’t know how modern I am, but I’m definitely mid-century. I can see now how hard it is to give an abstract piece of art a name. I guess some artists resort to “Abstract Number 1” and a date. Or “Blue Abstract”. I, on the other hand, just look at the finished work and try to get a quick impression of what it reminds me of. Cha

Boardwalk Companions 4 102120 It’s hard to put into words what the isolation of the pandemic has done to us. I’m sure it’s different for everyone. Obviously it’s harder on those who have been impacted financially and hardest of all on those who have lost loved ones or who have long-term health issues after contracting the virus themselves. My heart goes out to every one of them. Leaves on Ice 121618   That said, I don’t want to write a downer blog post when people are already not feeling like themselves and just want to get back to normal. So this post is about my attempt to make art or shoot photographs specifically to relieve the urge to make art when mostly in isolation. One of my favorite art subjects is the still life. Some of my favorite artists are the Dutch and Flemish still-life painters of the 1600s-1800s. Fruit, flowers, tables set with pottery and meats and vegetables, old books and lanterns, I enjoy all of it. I have drawn a few still lifes in graphite or colored pencil, b

Please Come In I really like to notice bits and pieces of things around me. I think that may partly stem from loving still life painting, in particular Dutch and Flemish still life painting from the 1600s forward. I used to paint still life when I was painting in oils (yes, the plural is “still lifes” for you grammar purests). I was always, however, painting from someone else’s photograph. I know a good still life when I see it, but I always had a hard time setting them up myself. I find I have the same issue when trying to set up a still life for photos, so I need to work on that. I am, however, good at spotting the wonderful still life in nature - the random gull feather on the beach next to an interesting rock, for example. The other way I satisfy my craving for interesting arrangements is to capture bits and pieces of architecture. Door knobs, windows, old brick walls with interesting texture. The nice thing about architectural detail is your subject doesn’t move and it’s already “

I like the industrial look. I like the shapes and forms of metallic objects created for industrial purposes even though they were not created to be “art” but were usually only created to be functional.   If you look up at massive electrical towers, there are some interesting shapes to be had. The outline of factory stacks can be interesting, old and sometimes decorative sewer grates are works of art unto themselves. As much as I love the local hiking trail, which I have visited literally hundreds of times in all weather conditions and seasons, and as beautiful as nature images are, there is also a place for the man-made, symmetrical, purposeful item when viewed for more than just its function.   When you look at a piece of machinery, think about what the inventor was thinking when he came up with that particular piece of equipment. Was he or she actually thinking just about function? Or was there also some thought to form involved in its creation? Is this thing painted a certain color?