_PNG.png){kind=small}
Adrian Hobbs
UK
_p.png)
“I look for shapes and patterns that fall together in a way that pleases me.”
Adrian takes pictures in a style that for him is completely natural. It’s not to do with rules, whether “of thirds” or anything else. He simply knows when there is something happening in the camera frame that is just right for him, and if it’s not happening he searches for it.
Return from Cours | Color Photography
Taken from a coach window while on the move, everything in the picture works well. I really like the way the closer objects have more movement than those further away. And the fact that there’s one tree missing!
Selected by the Royal Academy for its Summer Show
The eventual composition may fit within the well-known structures, but it often doesn’t, and if there’s some tension or discord it makes for a more compelling photograph. He strives for a bold composition within the whole frame.
The Snowline | Color Photography
A photograph that holds you to it, I believe. Just a hint of the faraway forest on the horizon. A good strong composition
Adrian loves empty space; it creates tension and thereby holds the viewer. Especially so when the image is essentially two dimensional, (he’s not a great fan of vanishing points) and this will often lead to a nod to the abstract.
“I enjoy being taken by surprise by a work of art, whether it’s visual imagery, music, the written word, or performance related.”
He likes to turn even the most mundane of subjects into a compelling image, using composition, and the unexpected. And he prefers it if the viewer has to do a little work themselves. He wants to ask questions, and in his own work, be questioned,
The Autumn Leaves | Photoshop
This picture just grew and grew
A shot of autumn leaves becomes circles of autumn colour. In turn they become two adjoined leaves, and then freestanding on marble,
with shadow and reflection
An ex-miner, now a pneumoconiosis victim, struggles up the stairs in the tiny Welsh cottage he once shared with his father and two brothers, also miners. There were two bedrooms between the four of them, and who slept where depended on who was on the night or the day shift.
Their mother slept downstairs on the sofa.
The Miner | Color Photography
Adrian is an excellent close-up portrait photographer. One way in which he achieves this is to acknowledge verbally as the shoot progresses the subject’s responses to his directions, with encouragement and highly positive feedback. There has to be something special happening within the camera frame, be it in composition, lighting, color, or possibly the unexpected.
“My love of photography was bought about by my family’s involvement in the design and their appreciation of contemporary art, alongside my own interest in science and technology.”
“I believe that in order to suggest the character of my subject it is essential that they themselves feel involved in the creation of the image, and are making a contribution other than just being the subject.”
These disciplines combine to create the art of photography, and they lie at the heart of Adrian’s work. It was his exploration as to how he might portray the Fibonacci Sequence in imaginative ways with imagery that led to his employing Photoshop to create geometric drawings.
Apple Life | Photoshop
Clean and simple, and the apple being depicted in both two and three dimensions gives the image a complexity that is compelling
Using circular depictions from his original photography, his initial emphasis was on color. He went on to experiment with both color and form and then to place the two-dimensional results into a three-dimensional context.
Insalata Tricolore | Photoshop
Having fun with my favorite salad.
Two-dimensional graphic representations of three-dimensional items, placed on a plate depicted as three-dimensional, all in two dimensions
Adrian’s work is diverse, reflecting his years as a professional photographer in London. There he trained as an assistant to one of the great British reportage photographers, Bert Hardy, and at 18 he moved to New York City, working with a well-known Life Magazine photographer, and later assisting many of the renowned fashion photographers.
The great Paul Millichip.
Many painters such as Paul have a very intense way of looking, and seeing.
The Artist's Gaze | Black & White Photography
“I love hard work, traveling, and especially meeting people from all walks of life and varying cultures.”
LIRR out at Far Rockaway | Color Photography
Playing with reflections and movement during the magic hour, I took this shot of one train passing another, from the window of the first
He has never fallen out of love with NYC, a hugely inspirational city. Back in London, photographing for ad agencies and design companies, he was always working to a brief, a budget, and a deadline.
Based on my photograph of floating petals in a lake near The Alhambra, the petals’ colours gave rise to the circular patterns. I then imagined the butterflies being able to camouflage instantly as they fly over the petals.
Fifty Butterflies at the Alhambra | Photoshop
A time came when he decided to cast off the commercial constraints and start following his own path as an artist. He became his own client, the most demanding one he’s ever had, he claims. Adrian organizes a small group of local artists, comprising ceramicists, painters, textile artists, and designers, and curates exhibitions for the group. His love of art in all areas of self-expression grows stronger every single day, as he sees and learns more.
The Kite Flyer |Color Photography
A strong graphic, bold and simple, portraying a somewhat engaging aspect of life on the beach
“My other interests include flying gliders around the country, Tottenham Hotspur football club, ballet, and taking lessons in how to play an alto saxophone rather badly.”
Not a solo artist yet? Subscribe to our solo exhibitions at TERAVARNA and share your art with the world!