Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is very pleased to announce that F.M. Kearney has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and he will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 2 weeks in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.

F.M. is a professional fine art photographer from New York City, New York.  He was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists of the gallery’s recent Solo Art Exhibition Series #6. The placement in this competition qualified his art to be showcased in this feature.  Below are F.M.'s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.

Artist Biography:

F.M. Kearney’s interest in photography began many years ago when his mother bought him his first camera – a Kodak Keystone 126 Instamatic (which he still owns today). Early subject matter included everything from his pet cat Dexter to various buildings and street scenes around his hometown of New York City. As he got older and his equipment got better, his interests shifted to photographing nature. He took great pleasure in capturing the colorful, natural world through his lens and enhancing it with special effect filters. His professional career began as a freelance photojournalist for a number of local newspapers, but he eventually reverted back to nature, reasoning, “You can only get so creative when shooting the news.” 

His creativity – as well as his passion for bright, vivid colors – is clearly evident in much of his floral work. Some of these photographs are the products of a compilation of as many as six or seven different techniques he’s learned over the years. These techniques range from using a simple black cloth in order to help the subject stand out better; to a complex double or triple exposure to produce soft, romantic glows around the image. He’s recently created a new collection of images that are truly unique. Through software, and a considerable amount of artistic flair, these images straddle the line between photography and Impressionist painting. The final touch is the dew drops, which take on an almost 3-D appearance. 

Although the natural world may always take precedence, his interest in urban landscapes never wavered. Living in a city with some of the most iconic subjects in the world has given him virtually unlimited opportunity to capture amazing cityscapes under the best possible lighting conditions. Just as his natural subjects, most of these images are also enhanced through a variety of special effects – usually digital in nature. 

His work has been exhibited in galleries in Montreal and New York, as well as a fine art museum in Florida. He’s been published in numerous books and magazines, and is currently a member of NANPA (The North American Nature Photography Association) and the columnist of their Field Techniques feature in their monthly eNEWS publication.

Artist Statement:

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated with bright, vivid colors. As a child, the rainbow of 64 colors spilling out of a Crayola Crayon box often mesmerized me. Although I had never even heard of most of the colors, I knew their creative potential was great. 

Years later, my interest in coloring shifted to photography – my interest in color, however, remained the same. For a photographer with a passion for color, nature was probably one of the most obvious choices of subject matter. Although I shoot a fair amount of landscapes, I tend to specialize in photos of flowers. Their varied shapes and colors provide endless creative possibilities. 

Much of my work in photography stems from my desire to show things in different and unusual ways. Whenever I read about a new photographic technique, I always like to see how I might improve upon it by tweaking it with my own personal style. Many of my floral images are prime examples. Not only does color play a key role; some images are actually the products of a compilation of as many as six or seven different techniques. The results, I feel, are truly unique. 

Why do I shoot the way I do? When I first began my career in photography, I briefly worked as a photojournalist for various local newspapers. Frequently, I found myself staring at the darker, seamier side of life through my viewfinder. I always had a desire to focus on the beauty, and, of course, the wonderful colors of our natural world – a yearning, if you will, to illustrate the other side of the coin. I guess you could say…my photos are my way of showing that the grass really is greener on the other side.

F.M. Kearney’s website:  www.starlitecollection.com