Describe your photography style. How did you develop it?
I specialize in low angle perspective – long exposure – wide angle – landscape photography. I’ve never tried to label it before now! As a child, I tended to explore a lot. I was always fascinated by what I would see over the next hill or around the next bend. I started with a Kodak Instamatic. Taking pictures allows me to remember the beauty I’ve seen on my adventures. I’ve retained my inner child, I still explore! I grew up and life became more complicated and difficult. Being creative helped me through some rough times. My photography became my therapy. I developed my style through trial and error, experimenting with less expensive specialized equipment. I used progressively wider-angled lenses and smaller tripods and longer exposures. Put all these elements together with instinctual composition and beautiful scenery and you get my style.
What makes a great photograph?
A great photograph will capture your gaze and hold it. It will invite your eyes to wander around it, perhaps discovering different details with each viewing. I aspire to take photographs more like that!
Your images often depict energetic cityscapes and serene rural scenes. Two extremes, almost. What draws you to photograph these subjects?
Cities provide their own lighting at night! They’re perfect for long exposures; add walking people, that are rendered as shadows or blurs and/or, add a moving car or two, that are rendered as streaks of white and red and you’ve captured movement. This movement adds to the beauty and adds the fourth dimension of time to the photograph. In nature, this fourth dimension can be made visible by the silky trails of a waterfall, or the smooth sheen of a lake surface that would appear wavy if the exposure was short. These contrasting sceneries are conveniently accessible to me by a short walk or drive from where I live.
You’ve photographed many cities, but Hamilton is home. What do you like about photographing Hamilton specifically, as opposed to other cities?
I live near downtown Hamilton. Hamilton has beautiful old buildings, red brick heritage homes, cobblestone streets and vintage light posts that lend pictures that extra “accent”. I go for a walkabout with my camera at least once a week. Hamilton is also home to many waterfalls and conservation areas, which I frequent often as well. Every city has its charm; it’s what I search for with every visit.
Is your art available for purchase anywhere? Do you have a ‘day job’?
My art is not yet available for purchase. Up to this point I’ve been improving my craft. Friends and family own framed pieces of mine though and people, in general, have expressed more and more interest. I’m in the process of framing my better pictures (18″ x 12″). When I compile enough of them I’ll show them. I do have a “day job” at this time, but it’s my dream to eventually pay the bills with my photography! The only public access to my art at this time is through Instagram: my handle is @lutz.bartsch feel free to follow, watch and comment!
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