Barry Guthertz
Beyond Botanicals

Beyond Botanicals

Flowers speak to me not in words, but through vibrant colors, pleasant fragrances, and with an assortment of unusual textures. I prefer B&W photography because it forces me to slow down and focus more closely on the shapes, forms, and abstract patterns I find in nature, especially with botanicals.

The interplay of black and white, with shades of gray, are creatively used to shape the emotional tone of my photographs.  I utilize composition, contrast, and light to put more of myself into my images.   Textures and grain are then added to recreate some of the many strong feelings that are present when I get the “nudge” to press the shutter, process the file and make a print.

Each step of the process has its own set of feelings that contribute a piece to the final image, which can sometimes be made months after I’ve taken the original photograph. My photographs become the visual manifestation of what I’m seeing as well as feeling.