Interview with photographer Jamie Heiden
Sunday 12 August 2018, 14:41 by Michelle Peeters | 7,218 views | 2 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
American photographer Jamie Heiden has created a unique style of fine art photography, and it is phenomenal! One of our readers, Esther Wijntje, is a big fan of hers and was keen to find out how she edits her photos in detail. She asked me if I would be interested in looking into it.
I wasn't familiar with the serene world that Jamie Heiden creates, but I was soon impressed by the way she uses her camera as a sketchbook. I thought it would be nice to put her work in the spotlight.
Her photos are a little fairy tale every time. So I contacted Jamie and received answers to my questions fairly quickly.
Jamie Heiden
Jamie comes from beautiful Western Wisconsin (United States). She has been taking photos since she received her first camera from her parents, before she even started secondary school.
She creates beautiful, elegant and simplistic compositions with her artistic photos. There aren't many distracting elements or colours in her photos. What you actually see in her photos is the opening line of a beautiful story unfolding before you, with all the nuances of art.
You could describe her artistic style as photo-impressionism. She tries to capture a feeling or experience rather than create an accurate representation. It is more about conveying a feeling than capturing exact details.
Working method
She gets the most satisfaction from actually pressing the shutter button on her camera. During her walking trips, she often comes home with 300-500 images. She then sits down at her computer, starts Photoshop and the beginning already starts to unfold.
Each photo file consists of several layers. Dodging, burning, increasing contrast and adjusting exposure are all tools she used to carry out in the darkroom. She now has all of them at her fingertips through Photoshop.
How does she edit in detail?
Jamie thinks the most important piece of the puzzle is finding your own photographic voice. It isn't that easy to explain exactly how she works. Her workflow is already described on her website, along with the Photoshop tools she generally uses.
It isn't a quick and simple process. It takes a lot of time to try things out, experiment and ask questions. Looking at other people's work helps enormously, and you also simply need to take and select a lot of photos.
Each image contains several photographic layers, sometimes as many as 15 or 20. She doesn't use clip art or filters. Working on the computer with the tools mentioned earlier, she can play with the light and depth on each individual layer. She thinks this is exactly what makes the images so painterly.
She has a degree in photography and graphic technology, but spent a large part of her studies in the darkroom. So she taught herself the digital skills. Her compositions and the story in her work also help to make it an engaging image, she hopes.
Inspiration
Simplicity is her inspiration; story is her goal. She loves an open horizon or a lone tree, an abandoned house or an old barn. It is this simplicity that opens the way more effectively for the story to begin in the viewer's mind.
Her frames are indeed clear in their composition and very austere, without many distracting colours or elements.
Art has given her a lot in her life, and she understands its language. Art speaks directly to her. It allows her to tell her stories and hear the stories of others.
Goals
She wants to keep learning and experimenting. There is so much inspiration and talent that can easily be shared in this digital age, and that gives her plenty of fuel to keep moving forward and growing.
She hopes that when someone looks at one of her photos, a story begins to form in their mind. Perhaps it is a story that continues from another time or another place. Or perhaps it is a new story that needs to be told.
She hopes they can see more than just that lone tree or a simple horizon. Hopefully, they see themselves in it.
About the author
Michelle Peeters is fotografe en oprichter van DeuxBleus Fotografie. Michelle herkent het bijzondere in het gewone en het gewone in het bijzondere. Ze heeft zich nooit willen specialiseren en is daardoor van alle markten thuis.
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2 comments
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Michelle Peeters wrote on Tuesday 14 August 2018 at 13:32
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@An: that editing indeed takes ages, but for her it is part of the process (you have to enjoy it). Like a painter who builds up a work of art little by little with small brushstrokes.
Translated from Dutch.
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