Romantic Realism. BY ALANA BROADHEAD
Viewing Life Through Cally Whitham’s Lens Turns the Ordinary into Anything But.
Humming along a state highway, while the rest of us might be nodding off in the passenger seat, fine-art photographer Cally Whitham is busy capturing the commonplace.
The artist travels through New Zealand snapping farm animals, barren fields and slices of state highway from a moving car. Then, back at her home studio in a small rural settlement north of Auckland, Cally's images become photographic illustrations.
Her studio may only be, in her words, "a cupboard in the kitchen" but from that cupboard come beautiful, ethereal works of art.
That "boring" thing? It's now the star of what looks like a painting. With a camera and computer as her oils and canvas, Cally makes the mundane become moody, mysterious and magical by casting her subjects in a whole new light. "I try to create an idea or feeling I have about something, rather than just producing a rendition of the thing itself. Life can be more enriching when we take time to notice the value in the ordinary things around us," says the artist.
Her studio may only be, in her words, "a cupboard in the kitchen" but from that cupboard come beautiful, ethereal works of art.
That "boring" thing? It's now the star of what looks like a painting. With a camera and computer as her oils and canvas, Cally makes the mundane become moody, mysterious and magical by casting her subjects in a whole new light. "I try to create an idea or feeling I have about something, rather than just producing a rendition of the thing itself. Life can be more enriching when we take time to notice the value in the ordinary things around us," says the artist.
Unsurprisingly, Cally's dreamy works - which can make viewers feel as if they're getting their daily dose of meditation - have caught the attention of the international photography and art worlds.
In our busy, busy lives, where every day whizzes past, Cally's photos are a reminder to slow down - to stop for a moment - and take a rose-tinted closer look.
