The Dead Rose Series |
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The Dead Rose Series premiered on November 15, 1998 at the Ellison Center for the Art's exhibition entitled Photo-Play. Photo-Play featured works from myself and three other photographer/artists: Julie Hawkins, Mark Primack, & Lisa Bolotte. Each of us used computers to create the art for the exhibition. The show was a great chance for me, a life-long photographer, to abandon my traditional medium, to playon my computer and create fine art. In doing so I replaced my camera, film, & studio lights with a scanner, Adobe Photoshop, and an ink-jet printer. The Dead Rose Series is my first fully digital show. The series will be showcase galleryNOW throughout the year 2000. While creating the series, I worked against the idea of computer art " as nothing but techno-driven special effects and pyrotechnics" -- a view maintained by several of my anti-digital peers. Overall, I kept the presentation of my images simple, mostly working with the details of a solitary dead rose and a black background. I worked on the series much like I would as a photographer. I reconfigured my flatbed scanner and added gobos and reflectors to facilitate a studio effect and strengthen the images. I designed each shot to emphasize lighting, texture, and form. The Dead Rose Series illustrates a concept of mine that beauty remains in things long after they've past. Even after death, roses preserve their loveliness and meaning for those who keep them. Although the petals dry and the leaves and stems crack and break, other textures and colors as subtle and beautiful emerge. Despite death, roses can still trigger memories of the moment when they were given. Memories will change in time, but the best feelings remain encapsulated in the dead keepsakes. I refer to the roses as dead and not dried ito appeal to my existential outlook on life. In acceptance of death surrounding the living, The Dead Rose Series is a tribute to family and friends that have passed. They are the memories that can lighten you with a laugh or plunge you into melancholy. Dead roses are the tokens of love between estranged lovers. Dead roses personify the acceptance of ones' losses without surrendering beautiful souvenirs.
The Images The following images are low-rez JPEGs which enlargen when clicked on. The artwork for sale are printed on photographic paper offer incredible texture, sharpness, and clarity of detail. They are not inkjets. I hope that the following images act as beautiful souvenirs for you.
The ©Images by David John Correia website was created by David John Correia last modified October 4 , 2000
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