Jeffery Conley
Conley is a fine art photographer who specialises and works within the landscape, his work is shot in black and white as is mine. Known for his gelatine prints developed in the darkroom. Colney's work has been internationally exhibited, included in museums collections worldwide. In the work, Colney tried to evoke a sense of wonder through his balanced simple images as you can see and showing reverence for the natural world.
"Photography is for me a kind of meditation that widens my perception of the existing and evolving world around us. I seek refuge and simplicity in my photographs and find a personal resolution and fulfilment that I sincerely hope others experience as well."
What I like about what Colney has said here is how photography is a kind of meditation for him which similarly relates as to why I photograph in the natural world and how I find peace and tranquillity to it. Colney finds simplicity in his photographs which is what I find interesting about his work and the different abstractions within the work and patterns.
These photographs are from Conley's projects of Points North and Winter what I like about these is the different textures in these and some sort of abstraction in them especially the third one along across the bottom and there is some sort of double exposure and it has quite an abstract element which is something I want to do in my work and have this element of abstractness which I find quite peaceful.
The Shadows Veil
“Over these last several years, even in the darkest days of the pandemic, my time in nature has been a constant source of solace and wonder."
Conley first began to photograph early hours before the sun rose and the birds were still asleep and there is an extraordinary amount of quiet - this is what Conley thinks of as the time Shadows Veil which is the the title name of the photobook. Shadows Veil is what Conley describes as the first delicate veil of light slowly becomes evident and the depth of earth’s shadow gradually lightens in the slow progression of night to day.
The photographs in this photo book are printed with duotone with two distinct prints on Korean paper with the exposed sided of the book block being painted charcoal grey and bound in unbleached linen fabric which works really well.
The purpose of the book, was also as an awareness in a sense leading to different perspectives of the worlds and life challenges and using nature as a reflection on this and the peacefulness of the world itself.
What interested Colney when photographing is not knowing what was coming and the sense that there is that therapeutic element to exploring nature and the different elements of surprises and patters within.
The book itself was made as a collection of observations of the days unfolding, the photographs being made in the early hours of the morning before the sun had come out or when the light is new early on in the day. This is quite interesting the early hours are when the time is quiet and still and you see the peacefulness and tranquillity to the world.
In Conley's work, he want to explores a mediative spirit that he captures in his work as he evokes a sense of wonder and tranquillity in his work this is something I want to create and this sense of timelessness of the world through tranquillity and peacefulness in the world and nature.
