jay rasmussen

Artist Statement

I make landscape, cityscape, nature, and cultural images that evoke a strong emotional response in me. My images are drawn from travel experiences throughout the U.S. and Canada, Hawaii, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and a 12,000-mile motorcycle adventure with my son from Minnesota to Argentina. Photography helps me see and appreciate the world in a fresh way and I love seeing others connect with my work on a personal level.

Photography is a creative force in my life and I especially relish seeing, celebrating, and sharing beauty that I find in humble places. In order to accomplish this I work to enter new situations with my eyes and heart open; I must switch off the world and truly experience the situation I've encountered.

At times, I may find value in representing the objective reality in front of me and I?ll operate more in the tradition of fine documentary image making. At other times, I may wish to express a personal response to a subject or idea. My intent when working in the impressionist tradition is to go for the reality and truth that lies beyond the literal - the feelings, passions, caring, moods, or other intangible qualities I experience.

Being an artist is not a permanent state. There are times I need to be a craftsman as well. When composing any image I must keep visually exploring whatever grabbed my interest and consider the basic building blocks of visual design - shapes, lines, textures, colors, and perspectives. My underlying desire through-out the process is to be sensitive to the essential structure I'm working with and to show understanding and respect for my subject matter. I also need skilled use of the camera to support what I'm seeing and to effectively convey a visual message. When operating in the impressionist tradition I may use in-camera multiple exposures, intentional camera motion (ICM), and montages. When working in the digital darkroom, Lightroom 6 for me, my desire is to retain the visual clarity of an image without overly manipulating or making additions in post-processing.