EPHEMERAL LIGHT

TINA STENFORD

// Tina is an Australian photographer who enjoys experimenting with her camera. As a self-taught artist and having travelled extensively, photography is a natural way of documenting all that inspires her. Abstract photography features prominently in her work. We are pleased to share a set of her series of photography of light through coloured glass.

Born in Melbourne and now living in coastal NSW, Tina has always been passionate about colour and design. Painting, fashion, and interiors have held a special interest, and her love of photography has evolved out of this. She sees beauty in many different contexts. Tina loves travelling to and photographing new places, something she hopes she will be able to do again more easily in a post-pandemic future.

Abstract photography is one of the genres Tina enjoys most. “I feel that with more experience, my eye is improving (or developing) towards being able to see potential compositions at almost every turn! So spontaneity is very important, but I like having a few shots of a subject to choose from. I like the ‘worlds within worlds’ that can be encountered in close-ups, so if I had to choose a favourite genre, it would be abstract.”

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

Anton Chekhov

What draws you to the arts?

“Enjoying art is simply something that can remove mundanity, negativity or meaninglessness from the world when in the zone.”

What do you like best about your abstract photo art?

“I like that it is not immediately obvious what these images are.“

For Tina´s glass series she captured a reflection of direct sunlight passing through coloured bottles and other glass items on to various surfaces. Different times of day created changes of light on the glass, and depending on where she was sitting in the lounge room she could see potential images appear. It was usually only momentary, then the artworks she was seeing were gone with the transient light.

“Mostly the images were not planned, it was more that I could really see compositions emerge as I have in the past with painting. I would then get a feeling that I was seeing something special or entrancing. Often I would see these compositions from different positions and get off my seat to get my camera. Each image was presented to me in a fleeting moment in time,” she says.

Images may be cropped for layout. Click on the photos to see a larger image with orginal proportions.