Artist's
Statement for Plantscapes Portfolio:
Photography
has been an important tool for me since the 1960's. In 2011 I
set myself the challenge of creating a series that expresses my
central artistic vision. Using the native and imported plants found
on the Florida Gulf Coast as my subject matter I have created images,
somewhat idealized and abstract, that express my respect for form and
structure. Cues for actual size are missing or altered, a
spiral coiled fern becomes visually equivalent to a Hubble view of
the Whirlpool Galaxy. Mathematical forms are revealed as a
natural consequence, illustrating both the simply geometry of linear
equations and the controlled chaos of non linear fractals.
These
are subtly manipulated digital images printed by myself on 100%
cotton rag paper with a commercial grade ink jet printer. This
combination yielded a depth of color and fine surface texture that
fulfilled the images for me. (technical
details)
About
John Kokajko: Born
and raised in suburban New Jersey John has also lived in Berkley,
California and the backwoods of Maine. He presently lives in
Bradenton, Florida, .
Photography
has been part of John’s life from grade school in the early
60’s. Ansel Adams and Edward Weston were major
influences.
Occupations
have included: laborer for a utility company, Data Control Clerk,
maintenance/repair handyman, woodsman (theme song – “He’s
a lumberjack and he’s OK”), whitewater rafting guide,
white water rafting outfitter/B&B proprietor, Physical Therapist
Assistant, Real Estate Agent, Licensed Residential Contractor and
Real Estate Broker. He has also done some commercial
photography and marketing consulting along the way. John has
documented a number of events in the Village of the Arts and the Art
Slam events hosted by Realize Bradenton.
John
taking a photograph at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.
Photo of John by Andre Pied. The picture John was taking
is below...
Copyright
2011. All rights reserved.
Technical details: This series was shot with a 15.5 Mega pixel Canon Rebel T1i using the standard lens sold with the camera (EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS). All of the exposures were taken at the smallest aperture available for the focal length used, which ranges from F36 at 55mm to F22 at 18mm. Typically the exposures were greater than one second, a tripod was used for every shot. These are digital images; manipulations included adjusting for tonal range, color balance, dust/dirt/spot removal and sharpening. A few had saturation values decreased. These manipulations are meant to be invisible to the viewer, what is meant to be obvious is that the images are somewhat idealized and abstracted. Images were optimized for printing at 350 dpi on an Epson 3880 ink jet printer using 100% cotton fiber paper (Epson Hot Press Natural). The results yielded with this combination are distinctive. The depth of color and the fine texture of the surface (smooth with no gloss at all) work very well with these images.