Featured Artist Dirk Karsten

Artist Dirk Karsten’s sensuous photography sets a mood and exudes timelessness. Learn more about his work and art by visiting his website.

 

 

The how and why of creating an image is very different for each photographer.

 

 

Most photographers work in a very spontaneous way. Others like myself need time to let an idea for an image mature in their mind.

 

 

I like to visualize the idea in all possible ways so that I can predict the final result as much as possible before I even start. I prefer not to leave anything to chance.

 

 

There isn’t much room for spontaneity in my work—but then again, having that part of the creative process already completed is important to me.

 

 

I approach my work this way as the result of being an advertising photographer and film director all of my working life. Working in these fields taught me to have a tremendous amount of discipline, and to be especially being aware of the budget and the amount of time allocated for whatever project I was working on.

 

 

I have never been very interested in the technical side of photography. Cameras and lights are only the tools used to make an image. Analog or digital—who cares—it all depends on the final result that I am looking for.

 

 

Nowadays, with my personal work, the end result very often doesn’t even look like a photograph any more.

 

 

I like people to look at my work and think, for instance, in the case of one of my landscapes, “Oh—this is where I want to be!” even if the location isn’t all that beautiful. Every location has something worth showing.

 

 

Nowadays I take a lot of portraits. I try to not make them look so much like formal portraits, but more like objects trying to convey a certain mood.

 

 

Photography is an amazing way to express oneself. My background is analog but digital techniques open so many possibilities. Only your imagination is the limit.

 

 

Look around—there is beauty everywhere you look.

 

Artist Dirk Karsten invites you to follow him on Facebook.

 

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