Gifted

Whilst browsing through the glorious gallimaufry of images presented on Flickr, I occasionally stumble upon the work of photographers of exceptional talent. Such individuals not only display consummate technical ability but also a rare perception. They have a highly developed instinct for imagery, sometimes referred to simply as 'an eye'. Their photographs are powerful yet subtle, restrained rather than flashy.

My most recent 'discovery' is an Icelandic photographer by the name of Olgeir Andrésson (Flickr ID: bögger).

Hólmbergsviti by Olgeir Andrésson

When I first saw this image of the lighthouse at Hólmbergsviti against a backdrop of the northern lights, I wasn't convinced that it was a genuine photograph - I thought it might have been a Photoshop fabrication. However, when I looked through the rest of Olgeir's photostream I soon realised that's not his style. As he writes in his profile:

"When I compose my shots, I aim to get everything I need at the time of taking the picture and not have to work on them afterwards."

I was also a bit puzzled by the colour of the lighthouse, which I initially attributed to artificial lighting. As I later discovered from this picture, the lighthouse is actually painted bright orange!

Canadian photographer Blair (Flickr ID: blairware) has a great eye for detail, especially textures and colours. He finds beauty in the most mundane subjects, such as decaying leaves or crushed cans.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum 9167 by Blair

I first discovered Blair's work when this striking shot of a highly polished aircraft caught my eye. I've looked at it many times, but I still can't decide whether it's a monochrome or colour image. I can't recall seeing any other monochrome images in his photostream, so I guess it must be in colour.

Blair writes in his profile:

"I've come to realize over the past couple of years on fotolog and now flickr, that seeing is part of life that I should not, cannot ignore."

I think I understand what he means. Once you make the effort to examine your surroundings closely, you begin to discern subtle variations and contrasts in form, shade, texture, patterns, etc wherever you look. The experience is habit-forming!

New York based Ignacio Ayestaran (Flickr ID: Nachosan) is a well-travelled and highly versatile photographer.

gugenheim girl & negative space by Ignacio Ayestaran

I first came across Ignacio's work when two of his photos were featured on Flickrblog, way back in December 2004. At the time, Flickr-founder Caterina Fake described his pictures as "consistently gorgeous". She wasn't wrong!

Whether he is photographing people, cityscapes, countryside, animals or plants... Ignacio excels. When I asked him if I could use one of his pictures to illustrate a blog post about some of Flickr's most talented photographers, he responded "not too sure I fit in that context".

Such modesty.

 

Comments

[publicenergy]

Thanks for the heads up - the first two are new to me and there is some great stuff in their streams by the look of it. Time to put my feet up, grab a cuppa and soak some of it in :)

[jamsodonnell]

Roger, thanks. These are brilliant!