Photography Atelier

Jim Turner

Seeing in Threes
I have always been fascinated by the beautiful and complex structures found in nature. New patterns emerge as you move closer and closer to a tree or flower. This collection of botanical triptychs was inspired by the work of Brigitte Carnochan. I was attracted to her philosophy that people tend to look at photographs of familiar subjects too quickly and that we should try to slow the viewer down to appreciate the beauty of the natural world in more detail. Normally, when we look at a photograph our eyes move from place to place absorbing it in pieces that are assembled into a complete image in our minds. Physically dividing a picture into a triptych adds an additional step to this process by allowing each panel to be viewed and appreciated on its own as well as a part of a whole. For me this is particularly effective for botanical images because, although patterns and structures are repeated, they are seldom repeated in exactly the same way – every flower and every leaf is unique.

Artist Bio

Jim Turner is a fine art photographer living in Maryland. He developed an interest in photography after his retirement from a 35 year career as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. His photographic interests are wide but he is particularly attracted to images of botanicals and insects. These images can reveal beautiful and intricate patterns and details that are often difficult or impossible to see with the naked eye.

His work has been juried into group shows at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (England), PhotoPlace Gallery (VT), the Darkroom Gallery (VT), the SE Center for Photography (SC), the A Smith Gallery (TX), and Nature’s Best Backyards (USA). He is a member of the Griffin Museum’s Photography Atelier 33.

Contact Jim Turner