iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Photo Synthesis For the Sun & Other Deities Treptower Park 12435 Berlin #LeicaCamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) #Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty #BaumHausArtist

Photo Synthesis
For the Sun & Other Deities

Treptower Park
12435 Berlin
#LeicaCamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)
This is a picture I made last June. A day of nightingales and thunderstorms. Not the easiest of images for Instagram either but I don’t make them for this platform, merely share them. This platform has in the past given me pleasure and to look at your works in return, gives me an immense amount of pleasure. Not so interested in selfies, shoes, holidays (jealous of course despite the carbon footprint) but I am interested in any picture or reel of kittens, cats or dogs, falling over, off or into things. Thats what instagram is really for.
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That said, I love it when it all falls into place. These pictures were easy. This picture was easy. It just fell into my lens. I made a lit jig on the inside after I had made this. It’s not merely bucolic, it has a lot of visual interest and textural complexities. I have been loving thinking in monochrome recently. I go through phases. Every picture tells a story. It means something completely different to each and every viewer but we all start from the same place.
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Slow burners are long burners. I can live with this image. It is A Printer
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Stay safe. Stay creative.
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Alles liebe aus dem Baumhaus

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

PhotoSynthesis For the Sun & Other Deities Treptower Park 12435 Berlin #LeicaCamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) Ear Worm: Marche Pour la Cerémonie des Turcs Jean-Baptiste Lully. 1670 #Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty

A PhotoSynthesis:
For the Sun & Other Deities

Marche Pour la Cerémonie des Turcs
#LeicaCamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)

Treptower Park
12435 Berlin
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Plants are interwoven into the day to day of our lives. They are a source of food. An integral part of the Bio Diversity of our shared environment. A source for poets and chemists. They are part of our history of colour. They are mediative, symbolic. For artists they provide subject and pigment. Like a photograph, plants rely on light for their existence. The link between the two is for me, profound. Many of the plants around us are refugee species from other parts of the world.
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I am not one for sharing pictures with music. I think it influences the viewer far too much and the "finished" image will change with our moods and feelings towards it. Music will anchor it, which for me, is like a padlock on a fence to symbolise love. In this particular case I instantly heard a piece of music in my head. I was laughing as I made this photo. I hummed the tune all of the way home. I am still humming it now.

Marche Pour la Cerémonie des Turcs 1670

Born. Giovanni Battista Lulli. Florence 1632 - Died Jean-Baptiste Lully. Paris. 1687

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Seasoning Tempelhofer Feld 10965 Berlin ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (off camera) Monday 23 June 2025 @ 13.24.21 See +ALT for full solipsistic hold forth #Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty #UrbanNature #UrbanFlora

Seasoning
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Tempelhofer Feld
10965 Berlin
Germany
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A low viewpoint through wind blown grass. The foreground grass is out of focus as the lens depth of field comes into play in the overall composition. It was a good day.
Today I sat in the grass, in my shorts and got a rash and this picture. I listened to the wind through this grass. I like the word Susurrus, that can be used to describe this sound. The wind was gusting. “Blowing a Hooley” also has a poetic tone to it. A different type of tone to susurrus but it makes me smile too. I listened to the skylarks overhead. I listened to the faint noise of traffic, just distant enough. In between the gusts, I could here insects, grasshoppers, bees, flies. I listened to boom box techno a dog walker shared with the world as they walked by. Monday 23 Jun at about 13.30, it was very windy on Tempelhofer Feld. It is now a Monday I will never forget because I made this picture of it.
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Thank you for reading. Be safe.
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ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Beer Gardeners' Question Time Treptower Park Puschkinallee 31 12435 Berlin, DE See +ALT for full solipsistic hold forth #Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty

Beer Gardeners' Question Time 
#leicacamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (off camera)

Trousers: BBC Home Service/9 April 1947/22.15(pm)

Attitude: Sowerbutts, Loads, Clark and Sansome.

Pink and purple peonies photographed from the side and slightly below. This is an intentionally underexposed picture that is relit with a flash held off camera to the left of the subject. The sky beyond is over cast with heavy rain clouds with the merest hint of the blue sky beyond the clouds. The title is aimed at my British viewer, I think I have at least one, will know of Gardeners’ Question Time? This is a BBC Radio staple since 1947, when the BBC first broadcast it on what was then known as The Home Service. Gardeners’ Question Time was a development of a war time, Ministry to Information public campaign known as Dig For Victory.

BBCR4s Gardeners’ Question Time is not to be confused with Question Time on the same channel. A very similar format, where elected and or populist political figures are invited to share their thoughts on questions submitted by listeners (and viewers). Tens of thousands of listeners form the weekly audience for Gardeners’ Question Time submitting their questions on all aspects of their gardening needs to a panel of experts. They receive, thoughtful, helpful and inspirational advice from the panelists. This is where Gardeners’ Question Time & Question Time diverge somewhat. I still listen to an episode from time to time.   I come from a family of gardeners. They are partly my inspiration for these works. All of my Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, parents, sister had or have a profound love of their gardens. It is in the blood. It is the summer and every time I visit a beer garden, I think of this R4 classic.

I live on the third floor of a 1904 apartment block. I have a small balcony. Berlins parks and gardens are my studio.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Village Greens ii #LeicaCameraDE ƒ/16 @ 1/500 ISO:100 Daylight & SF40 Flash (off camera) #Photography #Gallery #ArtHistory #DayforNight #Photographer

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Book of the Seven Seas Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) 4873 Væggerløse Denmark All info in the ALT text. This was a lot of fun, especially near the nudist beach with my camera gear. #Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy

Title: Book of the Seven Seas

Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)

A photograph of summer grass being blown in the coastal wind on the Baltic coast of Denmark. The foreground composition is full of very delicate summers grass that has a web like quality as my flash illuminates it. The tree at the back of the compositions is seen this time in whole. It is not cut off at the top or bottom. The picture is taken directly into the direction of the sun. The rolling cumulus clouds are grey with a distinct silver lining.

August 2024 for the first time in what has felt like years, I had a summer holiday. I cannot jump on an aircraft without thinking of the negative impact on our environment so this was a trip by train, ferry and coach. I can’t turn off what I know to suit my own ends. A Beach holiday has to very close to home or at the very least, a train ride away. This picture is made on the reverse, or the landward side of sand dunes on the Danish baltic coast. In my opinion (which I will change) these are the best pictures I made last year. The most original for me, anyway.

Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry.

Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Three Pictures of Wind Blowing Through Cherry Blossom From Left to Right. Lohmühlenbrücke 12045 Berlin Germany See +ALT for full description. #Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty

Wind Blowing From Left to Right Blowing Through Cherry Blossom.

Schmeterlingfeld, is a tiny space of green to encourage biodiversity along the side of the Landwehr Canal, Berlin. On this space, smaller than half a tennis court are three juvenile cherry trees. They are always a treat to see and photograph. Every year this mini Sakura is a magnet for me. It is in itself worth the effort but it is on the exact location of a memorable scene from Wim Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire), 1987. That’s enough for me. Good times
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Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. I simply love making them. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking.
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What I would like any viewer to understand about my photography is the following.

* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.
* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.
* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.
* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.
* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”
* I cannot think of the creative process as a shot. To me, I make pictures.

Thank you for reading
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ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Wind Blowing From Left to Right, Through Cherry Blossom. Lohmühlenbrücke 12045 Berlin Germany See +ALT for full solipsistic hold forth #Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Bergmannstrasse Magnolia Alter Luisenstädtischer Friedhof 10961 Berlin Every year I visit the same tree. Will there be a new picture for me this year? Look at what I would have missed if I couldn't be bothered. #Photography #Gallery #Berlin #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty

A picture looking throught the branches of a magnolia tree, illuminated by a flash. Every year I visit the same tree. Will there be a new picture for me this year? Yes. There always is. It is always a treat.
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Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. I simply love making them. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking.
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What I would like any viewer to understand about my photography is the following.

* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.
* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.
* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.
* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.
* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”
* I cannot think of the creative process as a shot. To me, I make pictures.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Dunning-Kruger Effect #LeicaCamera ƒ/11 @1/1000 ISO:100 Daylight & Off Camera Flash Trousers: Over Estimated my Reach Attitude: Specifically overconfident of myself at a particular task. #Photography #Gallery #Berlin #Spring #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Willowing: Part 1, 2 & 3. The COLD SONG, after Klaus Nomi Friedhof Alt-Stralau 10245 Berlin #photography #willow #Berlin #Spring #KlausNomi #Purcell #VisualLiteracy #arthistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty

The COLD SONG, after Klaus Nomi
Willowing. Part 1.
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Friedhof Alt-Stralau
10245 Berlin
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One of the most beautiful songs in my world for one on my most beautiful trees. I can listen to this version form the Purcell opera, over and over and never fail to be moved. Contradiction, Part 100+. I claim I don’t enjoy songs or soundtracks to visual arts. The music is by it’s very nature more accessible and shapes the response to the visual arts, turning my experience of it into a passive interaction. Of course, this is the intention but I claim prefer without. I have a soundtrack to all of my pictures, the city of Berlin. In this particular day I had an ear worm for what I now know to be the Klaus Nomi version of The Cold Song.
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Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking.

What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following.

* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.
* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.
* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.
* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.
* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”

Thank you for reading
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ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS

The COLD SONG, after Klaus Nomi
Willowing. Part 2.
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Friedhof Alt-Stralau
10245 Berlin
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One of the most beautiful songs in my world for one on my most beautiful trees. I can listen to this version form the Purcell opera, over and over and never fail to be moved. Contradiction, Part 100+. I claim I don’t enjoy songs or soundtracks to visual arts. The music is by it’s very nature more accessible and shapes the response to the visual arts, turning my experience of it into a passive interaction. Of course, this is the intention but I claim prefer without. I have a soundtrack to all of my pictures, the city of Berlin. In this particular day I had an ear worm for what I now know to be the Klaus Nomi version of The Cold Song.
-
Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking.

What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following.

* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.
* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.
* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.
* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.
* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”

Thank you for reading
-
ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS

The COLD SONG, after Klaus Nomi
Willowing. Part 3.
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Friedhof Alt-Stralau
10245 Berlin
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One of the most beautiful songs in my world for one on my most beautiful trees. I can listen to this version form the Purcell opera, over and over and never fail to be moved. Contradiction, Part 100+. I claim I don’t enjoy songs or soundtracks to visual arts. The music is by it’s very nature more accessible and shapes the response to the visual arts, turning my experience of it into a passive interaction. Of course, this is the intention but I claim prefer without. I have a soundtrack to all of my pictures, the city of Berlin. In this particular day I had an ear worm for what I now know to be the Klaus Nomi version of The Cold Song.
-
Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking.

What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following.

* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.
* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.
* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.
* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.
* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”

Thank you for reading
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ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

What a wonderful Monday morning. 44INCH PRINTWORKS Berlin days are the BEST days. The final joyous part of the creative process. The Print. A small selection from an exhibition here in Berlin, this coming March #Photography #Gallery #Exhibition #Berlin #44inchprintworks #Hahnemühle #Leica

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Portsdown Greens Memories of The Shire on the way to the pub South Boarhunt Lane South Boarhunt PO17 England #Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Hampshire #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

The Garden of Earthly Delights: Bish, Bash, Bosch Tunnelstraße 36B 10245 Berlin Full wisdom +ALT #Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty

The Garden of Earthly Delights: Bish, Bash, Bosch

Tunnelstraße 36B
10245 Berlin

A picture AFTER Hieronymus Bosch 1450-1516

I have been trying to figure how how spectacularly damaged you have to be to thing that Trump is a good thing? Haven’t come up with an answer and I doubt I ever will? So absolutely nothing to do with photography, so I better write something for those who are still reading, if indeed anyone reads this nonsense. It is a picture of a magnolia tree in blossom that virtually fills the square format frame. The Petals look like gloved hands or white butterflies that form a cup like curve through the picture starting form the top left, curving down to the bottom before curving up to the top right. The sky was bright blue on the day I made this picture, so in B&W, it appears black.

What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following.

* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.

* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.

* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.

* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.

* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”

Thank you for reading

ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS Treptower Park Puschkinallee 27–29 12435 Berlin Full description in +ALT #Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus x

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
Treptower Park
Puschkinallee
12435 Berlin

A picture of a group of poppies photographed in a park in, Berlin. My pictures are very dark because I underexpose them, then relight them with an off camera flash. The light falling on the red petals makes them look like silk or raw flesh. You can choose.

I have named this picture after a poem by the american poet, Wendell Berry.

“When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

Good, isn't it?

Poetry. I wasn’t always calm enough to understand it. To my pleasure I have grown a taste for it.

Now more than ever, in our new age of empires, I need to meditate on the words.

What I would like any viewer to understand about my work is the following.

* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.

* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.

* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.

* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.

* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”

Thank you for reading

ALLES LIEBE AUS DEM BAUMHAUS

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Blue. Blau. Bleu. Blu & Azur Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195 Berlin Full description in +ALT #Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty

Blue. Blau. Bleu. Blu & Blah!  

* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.

* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.

* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.

* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.

* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”

1700s Berlin is one of the world centres for Chemistry. Linked to the Royal Families passion for Alchemy, they employ chemists (alchemists) not just to pursue the race for base metals into Gold & Silver but for the challenge of Synthetic Blues. Synthetic Blue is first written about by the chemist Johann Jacob Diesbach in the early 1700s. The first factory produced Prussian also known as Berlin or Brandenburg Blue, is in the 1900 century but the French state that they invented it first.

Blue is the most restful of the primary colours still. It is symbolised by the angelic or spiritual across all societies independent of faith constructs. Blue as part of the daylight colour scale is the result of the earliest form of photography now known as Cyanotype from the ancient Greek kyáneos 'dark blue' and τύπος, týpos 'mark. It was named this from the Shadows on the wall concept of Plato's allegory of the cave.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Wintering: Part 1, 2 & 3 Berlin Winter Dark Light 1. Winterings. Görlitzer Ufer 2. Kinder und Haushaltsmärchen 3. Christmas Themed Romantic Comedy. Treptower Park +ALT text for the full Holdy Forthy #Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty

Wintering: Part 1
Winter Cherry in Berlin Darklight
 Görlitzer Ufer
12435 Berlin  

A very dark picture of winter blossoming cherry, stretched out in front of the silhouette of a much larger tree. I found that the branches of the cherry sat like an overlay over the back ground details. The hint of pink from the blossom stands out nicely from the dark blue of the winter light.

I love winter light. This is a good thing as I live in Berlin. This geographical truth equates to long hot summers, a short but beautiful autumn, very dark, dark winters and an explosive spring. This winter light is dominated by low cloud. Somewhere just above it the sun is shinning and this effects the back drop to my pictures. Marbling the clouds from the reverse side delivers a stunning textured back drop for my photography.

In essence my photographic practice is this.
* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.
* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.
* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.
* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.
* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”

Making these pictures is something that makes me feel very happy. To me they are full of art historical references but this is far from obvious to the casual viewer. They are at their best when printed.

Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus

Kinder und Haushaltsmärchen

(Das singende, klingende Bäumchen DEFA-Märchenfilm 1957)
Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8,
14195 Berlin

A winter picture. Dark with rich colours. The subject is of a little plant with silver seed pods that look like leaves. It is the silver seed pods of Lunaria annua, commonly known as honesty or annual honesty. I have relit the whole composition with a flash so the seed pods shine in the dark.

Under the influence of the Brothers Grimm short story for children Das singende, klingende Bäumchen, which terrified me as a child, fascinated me as a teenager and perplexed me as an adult. Why on earth would you upset your children with the sole aim of comforting them afterwards? This interest in morality lessons led me to read a little more about the origins of these fables. To my surprise they are a lot more international than I knew at the time. Now I understand that stories flow along the trade routes like any other precious article.

This photograph is underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. The whole effect is theatrical, it makes the subject look other worldly. This technique is based on what others refer to as Day for Night. That if you are interested in such things, this is the method but my aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving.

I am as inspired by western art, in particular painting from the 16th to the 18th century. This is as a result of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery for over 27 years. I can never unlearn what I know and this joy for knowledge and art history is at the beating heart of my photography. I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that.

  Keep sharing the beauty

A Christmas Themed Romantic Comedy.

Treptower Park
12435 Berlin

A miniature variety Silver Birch Tree photographed in the last light of the day, relit with an off camera flash. The sky behind the tree is a deep blue fading into purple and a hint of pink beyond the confusion of branches and foliage. A few leaves hold to the trailing branches and look like coins in the light from the flash. The flash also picks out the crinkled texture of the trunk and branches that make a type of green and silver camouflage print.

I love winter light. This is a good thing as I live in Berlin. This geographical truth equates to long hot summers, a short but beautiful autumn, very dark, dark winters and an explosive spring. This winter light is dominated by low cloud. Somewhere just above it the sun is shinning and this effects the back drop to my pictures. Marbling the clouds from the reverse side delivers a stunning textured back drop for my photography.

In essence my photographic practice is this.
* I make 90% of my work in Berlin Green Spaces. This topographical landscape has memory. It tells stories. I am a storyteller.
* I prefer to work "in camera" so there is minimal post processing on my pictures. These pictures are straight out of the camera.
* They are all daytime pictures, underexposed to appear dark and relit with an off camera flash.
* Influenced consciously by 15th to 18th century European Painting but unconsciously, just about everything else.
* I am clearly stating, "Look what I would have missed if I wasn't looking" which feels one hundred times more authentic than the somewhat arrogant, “look at what everyone else is overlooking.”

Making these pictures is something that makes me feel very happy. To me they are full of art historical references but this is far from obvious to the casual viewer. They are at their best when printed.

Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Wintering: Part 1 Winter Cherry in Berlin Darklight Görlitzer Ufer 12435 Berlin +ALT text for the full holdy forthy #Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Kinder und Haushaltsmärchen (Das singende, klingende Bäumchen DEFA-Märchenfilm 1957) Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195 Berlin Full description in +ALT #Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty

Kinder und Haushaltsmärchen

A winter picture. Dark with rich colours. The subject is of a little plant with silver seed pods that look like leaves. It is the silver seed pods of Lunaria annua, commonly known as honesty or annual honesty. I have relit the whole composition with a flash so the seed pods shine in the dark.

Inspired or under the influence of the Brothers Grimm short story for children Das singende, klingende Bäumchen, which terrified me as a child, fascinated me as a teenager and perplexed me as an adult. Why on earth would you upset your children with the sole aim of comforting them afterwards? So many of the Grimm’s collection of folklore does this. This interest in morality lessons led me to read a little more about the origins of these fables. To my surprise they are a lot more international than I knew at the time. Now I understand that stories flow along the trade routes like any other precious article.

This photograph is underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. The whole effect is theatrical, it makes the subject look other worldly. This technique is based on what others may refer to as Day for Night, La Nuit américaine (American Night). That if you are interested in such things, this is the method but my aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving.

I am as inspired by western art, in particular painting from the 16th to the 18th century. This is as a result of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery for over 27 years. I can never unlearn what I know and this joy for knowledge and art history is at the beating heart of my photography. I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that.

  Keep sharing the beauty

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Wind Streaming Through Jerusalems Tempelhofer Feld Berlin +ALT text for the full holdy forthy #Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #KeepSharingTheBeauty

Wind Streaming Through Jerusalems

A low view point picture of Jerusalem Artichoke flowers with the wind gusting in between them. The closest bright yellow flower head is slightly out of focus as it dipped into the foreground of the picture, creating a heightened sense of movement and visual drama. All of the yellow flower heads are being blown from right to left, all are at an angle of 45˚ or more. Just to the left of the vertical axis is the sun, hidden behind the clouds and a flower head. This is a bright daylight picture made on Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin. I liked the link between Jerusalem & the Templars. In reality Jerusalem Artichokes are not from Jerusalem or Artichokes. They are a type of sunflower and from the Americas. I am sorry about that.

This photograph is deliberately underexposed and then relight with an off camera flash. My aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving. I am as inspired by western art, in particular painting from the 16th to the 18th century. This is as a result of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery for over 27 years. I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that.

Over the last decade, this form flora photography, closer to portrait than a traditional landscape has become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me.   

Keep sharing the beauty

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Three Pictures Along a Danish Strand All info in the ALT text. This was a lot of fun, especially near the nudist beach with my camera gear. Three pictures along the Danish Baltic coast before and after a storm. August 24 #Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy

Title: The Scent of Pepper & Seawater

Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)

Title: The Scent of Pepper & Seawater

Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)

The subject is of summer grass growing infront of the silhouette of a small tree. The grass in the foreground is thin and spindly and appears to be very delicate, almost like silk spider trails. The grass touches all parts of the overall picture like daytime fireworks. The tree in the background is very small and is leaning from the bottom right to the top left of the composition. Because my low viewpoint it leans over the composition as a whole and has a real emotional presence. The tree is virtually silhouetted against a dark blue sky that is partly filled with rolling cumulus clouds.

Last august for the first time in what has felt like years, I had a summer holiday. I do not jump on an aircraft without thinking of the negative impact on our environment so this was a trip by train, ferry and coach. I can’t turn off what I know to suit my own ends. A Beach holiday. These pictures are made on the reverse, or the landward side of sand dunes on the Danish baltic coast. In my opinion (which I will change) these are the best pictures I made last year. The most original for me, anyway.

Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry.

Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus

Title: Book of the Seven Seas

Camera Data: ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (on, fired)

This photograph is very similar to the first but with several noticeable differences that need to be described. The foreground composition is full of very delicate summers grass that has a web like quality as my flash illuminates it. The tree at the back of the compositions is seen this time in whole. It is not cut off at the top or bottom. The main difference is that this picture is taken directly into the direction of the sun. The rolling cumulus clouds are now grey with a distinct silver lining. It was also made a few hours before a summer storm hit the Baltic coast.

Last August for the first time in what has felt like years, I had a summer holiday. I do not jump on an aircraft without thinking of the negative impact on our environment so this was a trip by train, ferry and coach. I can’t turn off what I know to suit my own ends. A Beach holiday. These pictures are made on the reverse, or the landward side of sand dunes on the Danish baltic coast. In my opinion (which I will change) these are the best pictures I made last year. The most original for me, anyway.

Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry.

Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus

Title: Heavy Rain Over the Nudist Beach (Part 1)

Camera Data: ƒ/11 @ 1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (off camera)

The last of the three as they are shown in order of making over two days is photographed along the same beach. This time the sand dunes shield a nudist beach from enquiring eyes. The grass has become the main subject with the tree now so distorted in the composition it really leans over the whole like a dark presence. This picture was made between rain squalls which must have been challenging for our naturist friends. Several of whom approached me in sun hats and flip flops to ask what I was doing. They were not at all concerned about being photographed, they were just interested. Several of them have followed me on social media. Hilarious.

The last of the three pictures I made along this Danish beach ecosystem. I am not sure why I called it (Part 1). Maybe I thought I had more pictures from this trip than I actually did. I don’t make many. I reject most and then print from a small selection still. I don’t like being bombarded by dozens of images. That is a personal choice and a reflection on how I like to work. These pictures are made on the reverse, or the landward side of sand dunes on the Danish baltic coast. In my opinion (which I will change) these are the best pictures I made last year. The most original for me, anyway.

Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry.

Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

An American Lotus in Poppelsdorf Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Keep Sharing the Beauty #KeepSharingtheBeauty #Photography #Gallery #Artist #Bonn #Lotus #BotanicalGardenBonn

A Lotus flower illuminated by an off camera flash, photographed in The Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn ( Love that name).

This Lotus flower seems to be illuminating the surrounding picture, like a lamp/ A very pleasing effect of the flash defusing through the petals. My pictures are all underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. I hope to achieve a very theatrical form of image that works towards the narrative light used in the history of Western Art. This light play can be literal or suggested. I think as much of portraiture in the 16th-18th centuries as I do stage and film. Of course the later have played an important part in the development of my visual literacy.

I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define but are at their best when printed. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. Typical me. On the plus side, they are very beautiful so for many viewers it can rest at that.

I had photographed this very flower head 24 hours before when it was only partially open. I was contacted via Instagram by one of the garden staff who suggested that I should revisit, if I was still in Bonn? I was. I did and have now exhibited this picture no fewer than four times, in four different countries. There is such a mystical attribution to the lotus in eastern cultures. This species is western, a native of North America and was considered invasive, so cut back or farmed to a state where it is now on the endangered register.

It was apparently distributed throughout the Americas by first nation peoples who carried the seeds as food. I always wanted to go back to America but I think I have grown out of that now.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

AS THE SUN SETS, THE MOON RISES Thiessow Rügen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern In this our new year of elected ignorance, I have to remind myself that there is a whole other world out there. Keep Sharing the Beauty #KeepSharingtheBeauty #Photography #Gallery #Artist #Rügen #Winter

Two pictures of Reed beds in the wetland of Rügen.

Two of the coldest pictures I have made. The first is taken directly into the setting sun. I use an off camera flash to relight what are very dark daylight pictures. The second picture is made by simply turning through 180˚ and photographing the moon as it settles into the winter sky.

This first picture is divided into several distinct horizontal registers. From the top to the bottom, there is a thin strip of bright orange horizon, with the sun at the centre of the composition setting into the reeds. Beneath it there is a small number of reeds haloing in the setting light. The next group of reeds are illuminated by my flash. They lean from right to left in the freezing wind. The bottom of the picture is very dark, with a few stems growing out of the water which is almost black.

Wetlands. When I get the chance, I jump at it. Thiessow is the southern most tip of the Baltic Island of Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommen. My god at this time of year it is cold there. In England we have the saying “It’s Baltic out there”. This amazing wetland is the host to thousands of wintering birds. The noise of the Tundra (Bewick) swans is distinctive and very bloody loud, even through three layers of hoods. I love my thermal underwear.

Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry.

Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus and keep sharing the beauty

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Mocked by Wintering Swans Thiessow Rügen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern #Photography #Gallery #Artist #Rügen #Winter

Reed beds in the wetland of Rügen.

Compositionally this picture is divided into three registers. The top of the picture is a deep Prussian Blue. The middle register or band is made of a wall of reed stems, leaning slightly to the right and glistening in the rain. They have a tarnished gold appearance. The bottom part of the composition is dark and made of the trimmed stalks. They really crunched under my feet. The sound of this picture would be the wind through the rushes, the sound or train through my three layers of all weather hoods, and hundreds, if not thousands of Swans. Tundra swans wintering in the milder climate of the Baltic. I may have had an optimistic whistle to keep my spirits up.

Wetlands. When I get the chance, I jump at it. Thiessow is the southern most tip of the Baltic Island of Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommen. My god at this time of year it is cold there. In England we have the saying “It’s Baltic out there”. This amazing wetland is the host to thousands of wintering birds. The noise of the Tundra (Bewick) swans is distinctive and very bloody loud, even through three layers of hoods. They are bold and always hungry, so any sandwich is considered theirs. They also mocked my pink bike, that belongs to the appartment that I call basecamp. The house is named after the Red Throated Diver and has a log burner. I love my thermal underwear.

Over the last decade, these flora portraits have become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me. collectors editions are available on enquiry.

Alles liebe aus dem BaumHaus

A borrowed bright pink dutch style town bike, lying on it’s side, supporting my camera bag from the damp ground. This heavy bike was the perfect means of travel to cover the distance I needed while making my photographs on Rügen. I realise that I have only visited in the winter so very out of season. This makes me happy as I am full enough of people while in Berlin. Here I am surrounded by wintering water birds. The Tundra (Bewick) swans are very loud. Hundreds of the shouty russian buggers. They laugh at my bike.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Knights Templar Field Tilting Poppies #leicacamera ƒ/11 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (off camera) #Photographer #Photography #VisualArtist #ArtHistory #VisualLiteracy #Gallery #VisualArts

Knights Templar Field Tilting Poppies.

  A red poppy tilting towards the viewer, lit by an off camera flash, it stands out perfectly amongst the bright green surrounding plants. It reminds me of blood.

Maybe a little long as a title? I do like my titles to refer to my mindset while making the photograph. I prefer the language of creating to taking. I loathe the term shots. I associate that with guns. a legacy of american gun ownership.

Tempelhofer Feld, near my Berlin home, is the former land of the Knights Templar, a crusading order of young religious men who would not inherit under the feudal system of inheritance. There were a large number of German Knights, in the European order of chivalry, acting as "security" for pilgrims to the so called Holy Land. These religiously motivated individuals would often need to borrow heavily to fund their Papal sanctioned "travels". Often borrowing from Jewish Money Lenders, it was not uncommon for the knights to turn on their lenders and murder them as a God sanctioned act of faith. This convenient antisemitic act of murder also cancelled their debt. It was so common that the pope intervened to stop this unsanctioned act of violence. The German knights had to be reigned in for their barbaric acts that could threaten the funding of the whole crusading initiative.

More recently the land has been a military parade ground and an airport, it is now a large park land in the centre of Berlin. Of course it is under threat for redevelopment. There is always someone who can smell money in it. These "people" promise that the land will be redeveloped with "affordable properties". Affordable is a relative term and I would ask affordable to whom? There is still money in this land.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GDp... For two of you who got me started making photographs again. Merry Christmas Mr Bennett & Mr Hoskins #Photography #VisualArtist #BaumHaus #Berlin #London #FifeheadMagdalen #LeicaCamera #MerryChristmas

youtube.com

Merry Christmas Mr Rogers

YouTube video by GrantSimonRogers

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Three Pictures of Sunflowers on Tempelhofer Feld #LeicaQ ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) #Photograph #Photography #Art #VisualArtist #GalleryArtist #ArtHistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty Full description +ALT

THREE PICTURES OF SUNFLOWERS

There is something about sunflowers that I find quite unsettling. Three pictures of the same sunflowers at different parts of their cycle photographed in the community gardens on Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin. Full bloom, going over and all but dead. A shell of the former selves. I don’t know which picture I prefer, they all have the same unsettling effect on me.

My pictures are all underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. I hope to achieve a theatrical form of image that works towards the narrative light used in the history of Western Art. This light play can be literal or implied. I think as much of portraiture in the 16th-18th centuries as I do stage and film. Of course the later have played an important part in the development of my visual literacy. Yes, you can think of Van Gogh if you wish, but I am thinking more of the painted self portrait of van Dyck.

I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define and are at their best when printed, which is ironic as we are viewing this on a device. They need time, they need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. On the plus side, they are visually easily accessible for viewers, so it can rest at that.

This is the second of six printed photographs I would exhibit. Photographed of 8 months I revisited the same plants again and again. I find this sky scrapper of a plant fascinating.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

American Lotus in B&W II The Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (♡ that name). #LeicaQ: ƒ/16.0 @ 1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash #Photograph #Photography #Art #VisualArtist #GalleryArtist #ArtHistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty Full description +ALT

A Lotus flower in Black & White illuminated by an off camera flash, photographed in The Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn ( ♡ that name).

This Lotus flower had just opened it’s head of petals. I had been messaged by a volunteer gardener, to “come back and take a look.” I had spent time making pictures there the previous day. “If I was still in Bonn, then I may like what has happened to the lotus.” I was. I did. I still do. I will always be grateful to someone else’s generosity of spirit.

This lotus flower is now fully illuminating the other elements of the picture, like a lamp. The leaves of the plant are lifting in a gust of wind and were rubbing together with a characteristic squeak. I love what is for me a very pleasing effect of the flash defusing through the petals. The Lotus illuminates the surrounding picture. It is THE light. Physically speaking, not metaphysically. God and I have quarrelled and we are still not talking to each other.

My pictures are all underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. I think as much of painted portraiture in the 16th-18th centuries as I do stage and film. Of course the later has played an important part in my visual literacy.

I feel my pictures are pretty hard to define and are at their best when printed. They need time. They need a certain amount of art historical knowledge. This makes it quite tricky for myself when it comes to definition. On the plus side, they are visually easily accessible for viewers, so it can rest at that depending on your visual literacy.

This is the second of six printed photographs I have exhibited. Photographed of 24 hours I was privileged to make a lot of friends at the Botanical Garden & still enjoy their support today.

This species is western, a native of North America and was considered invasive, so cut back or farmed to a state that it is now on the endangered spices register.

Isn't that just typical of you America?

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

American Lotus in B&W I The Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn #LeicaQ: ƒ/16.0 @ 1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash #Photograph #Photography #Art #VisualArtist #GalleryArtist #ArtHistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty Full description +ALT

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

An American Lotus in Colour 1. The Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn #LeicaQ: ƒ/16.0 @ 1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash #Photograph #Photography #Art #VisualArtist #GalleryArtist #ArtHistory #KeepSharingTheBeauty +ALT for full description

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

BSky Hello British born gallery artist, living in Berlin. Photographing urban flora. All images are daylight and straight out of the camera. I teach art history, drawing & historiography. Full introduction + ALT #Photography #Artist #Berlin #London #Photographer

A photograph of me at work on Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin. This is as good a picture as any to demonstrate how I work. Here I am holding the flash unit in my left hand, mounted upon and extendable bracket. Fully extended this bracket gives me almost a metre and a half of arch to play with. This is important when it comes to subtle adjustments. Many people approach me to ask what I am doing. Many dogs approach me to see if I will throw their ball for them.

My camera is held in my right hand. From birth I have had mobility issues which are finally taking a toll on my moment and flexibility. I find it hard to bend down but it is still good fun trying and the noises as I get back up are like something from a BBC Wildlife documentary. The camera, is a small fixed lens Leica (I always wanted one) and it suits me just fine. I can hear the audible focus confirmation and then use the rear view screen to see what I have got. Known as “Chimping” this is essential to me. I can’t really work any other way.

Tempelhofer Feld, is the old city airport, +20mins drive or 15 mins cycle to Brandenburg Gate, it is in the heart of Berlin. Conceived as one of the show pieces of the 1936 Olympic Games, typically it was never completed but was designed to look like the outstretched wings of the eagle of the Third Reich atop an oak wreathed swastika. The airport is a breath taking example of the pseudo-philosophy of national socialism, manifest in architecture.

The Feld is now a nature reserve and their are several extremely rare species of birds that nest here. Of course, it is prime real estate so the area is under threat by property developers who are insisting that it will be affordable housing.

Affordable for who maybe the question?

A photograph of dozens Poppies flowers growing in long grass on Tempelhofer Feld. They were nodding and swaying in the wind. The colour theory really works to my advantage in the low light created by underexposing the photograph.

I love it.

This is the very picture I was making (not taking) when I was photographed by a passer by. They were kind enough to approach me and ask if I would like the picture. Of course I did. This is as good as an example as any to demonstrate the easy charm of my pictures. What lies behind it is for me more challenging.

Every part of Berlin has a story to tell. Some of them more comfortable narratives than others. In my career as a Historiographer I specialised in National Socialist Arts & Architecture and eventually became a teaching fellow in Holocaust Education for the Imperial War Museum, London & Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. This is some of the teaching work I am proudest of. The downside of this work is that you can never un-know it. Yes, it goes deep. Ultimately I took up photographing flora as a way of relaxing after the teaching. While I lived in London, this helped. Now I live in Berlin and the History is under every step once again. This colours my work for me. It is worth stating that there is a redemptive narrative for this ground, it is the sight of the Berlin Airlift, known as The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) which was one of the first major international crises of the so called Cold War.

The picture is very dark, This is how I like them. I need the viewer to work a little to see them. Just like a painting.

WHY WOULD I MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU?

Myself and members of the public in front of Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus painting in the National Gallery Trafalgar Square. This was my last day as a visiting lecturer after 27+ years of working on the Public Programme of the National Gallery. I was never more proud of this work. I worked as a visiting lecturer at a host of other museums and galleries in London, becoming Head of Informal Learning for the Imperial War Museum’s (IWML) London branches.

The National Gallery was my true education.

The IWML was a top down lesson in how not to motivate a team, based on solipsistic ambition, bullying and toxic mental health. At the NG we were told by the Director General that the institution was lucky to have us as part of the team. At the IWML, we were told that we were lucky to be part of the team. Figure it out for yourself. One DG turned down his Knighthood in favour of others, one DG put a picture of her investiture on the Internet. These are all such valuable lessons to learn. They shape who I am, how I think. How I feel about myself. I am still passionate about museums and public collections and visit them to draw in, here in Berlin.

Being exposed to the NG collection, installed a desire to learn that still exists within me today. I joy to share and pass on to others. I was not a successful student at school but bucked up my ideas at art school. I am not self taught at photography but had to rediscover it after a twenty plus year pause on leaving art school. I am still learning.

I hope this desire for learning never diminishes. Life long learning is the best. I consider myself to richer for this experience.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

A View From a Ditch in Denmark #leicacamera ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:100 Daylight & Flash (off camera)  After, Richard Dadd, who murdered his dad & Albrecht Dürer, who had nice hair. #Photography #Photograph #GalleryArtist #ArtHistory #artist #KeepSharingTheBeauty +ALT for full description

Sat in a ditch in Denmark, thinking of Richard Dadd’s The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke (1855–1864) & Albrecht Dürer’s Great Piece of Turf (1503) while I composed this photograph. That came as a surprise to me as I was not considering either of them before hand, I made this picture and they jumped out of my unconscious. Literally, I understand why. To have those two artists rattling around in my mind seemed amusing at the time and I remember laughing to myself. The art history is always there even when I ma not looking for it. After 27 years of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery, London, it would be hard to ignore all of that learning.

This is a daytime photograph, underexposed, then relit with an off camera flash. The whole effect is theatrical and in this case it makes the barley look almost architectural as the flash illuminates the stems. This technique is loosely based on what photography and art historians may refer to as Day for Night, La Nuit américaine (American Night). That is the method but my aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving.

The picture is a photograph from a low view point (a ditch) looking at a field of ripe golden barley, which makes strong vertical lines to the top of the picture. The ears or seed heads are curved over. Laced through the stems are many Ox Eye Daisies, which move ones eye through the composition as we become aware of the different daisies. A little like looking at the stars in the night sky. The top of the picture is a suggestion of inky blue and the clouds in the sky.   Over the last decade, this form flora photography, closer to portrait than a traditional landscape has become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

The Terminal Velocity of a Snowflake @ 1/500 of a Second ƒ/11.0 28.0 mm 1/500 400 Flash (on, fired) Berlin Tempelhofer Feld I AM A SNOWFLAKE & this snowflake is not for thawing #photography #Art #Arthistory #Snowflake #ArtGallery #Gallery #Leica Full explination in the +ALT text

Snow flakes falling in front of a bare leaved winter tree. This photograph is deliberately underexposed and then relight with an off camera flash. The whole effect is theatrical and it makes the snow flakes look like blossom petals as the flash illuminates them. This technique is loosely based on what photography and art historians may refer to as Day for Night, La Nuit américaine (American Night). That is the method but my aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving. I am as inspired by western art, in particular painting from the 16th to the 18th century. This is as a result of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery for over 27 years. I can never unlearn what I know and this joy for knowledge and art history is at the beating heart of my photography.

Since the term became used in a political sense, it is safe to say, I am a Snowflake. I honour my sense of Justice and equality for all. I am not using others to feel safer or better about the challenges that modern life throws in out faces. Freedom of speech does not mean a free for all of solipsistic “truths” that suit me in the echo chamber of my limited paranoid, life experience. I have a moral compass that often points to empathy. I do not have or would ever offer answers to complex questions. These are values I hold true. I AM A SNOWFLAKE.

Over the last decade, this form flora photography, closer to portrait than a traditional landscape has become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

When Despair for the World Grows In Me - #LeicaCameraDE ƒ/16 @1/500 ISO:100 Daylight & SF40 Flash (off camera) #Photography #Gallery #ArtHistory #DayforNight #Photgrapher

This photograph is deliberately underexposed and then relit with an off camera flash. The whole effect is theatrical and it makes the barley look soft, almost like velvet to touch. This technique is loosely based on what photography and art historians may refer to as Day for Night, La Nuit américaine (American Night). That is the method but my aim is to see our shared environment in a way that I find beautiful and moving. I am as inspired by western art, in particular painting from the 16th to the 18th century. This is as a result of working as a lecturer for the National Gallery for over 27 years. I can never unlearn what I know and this joy for knowledge and art history is at the beating heart of my photography.

This photograph is of a Barley field in the heart of what is considered to be part of the most right wing parts of Germany. There were AƒD posters everywhere. I could feel my hackles rising as I walked along, cursing and swearing on the inside, then I saw this field. All of the anger and disappointment I felt for these common men and women just evaporated. This is a picture from a few years ago that I have never shared, it caught my eye once again. Down went the shoulders and breath. I can think clearly once I have been contemplating why I make my work. It turns out that the blah I bang on about in my artist statement is true. Who would have thought it?

Over the last decade, this form flora photography, closer to portrait than a traditional landscape has become my passion and delight. These photographs are all day time, with virtually no post processing. I make them in the camera. When I look back at my pictures I always struck by what I would have missed if I wasn’t looking. That is one of the gifts of photography for me.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

An Authentic Occurrence of Circumstances: Part Two The limited life of a photograph for this photographer is an obstacle I face with each and every picture I make. Poetics, productivity and stagecraft: Colour photography After van Dyck. Opinions, my own. #Photography#Gallery#Artist #Art?

A trailing wild Clematis covered in snow against the silhouette of a winter tree.

In my experience it is a genuine test of time revisiting pictures. Everything photographically feels or seems to have a limited number of looks before become bored of it and move on to the next thing. I don't experience that with paintings. I can concentrate. Of course a painting is made by applying bound pigment to a surface, so the touch is sensual, engaging. This moment of light at 1/2000 of a second cannot hold my attention in the same way. But I can try to make photographs that I want to live with.

I really am pleased with the subtle colouring in the clouds. From the pinks to the greens the clouds speak to me of how black paint, or the illusion of black fabric was mixed and painted in Netherlandish art. Then there is the the snow on the foreground Devils Darning Needle, so pure. It will never, can never, be touched.

There is drama in that for me.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

The Shape of Wind Through Leaves and the Incident of the Little Dog's Squeaky Toy. Brockwell Park Herne Hill London A very long title. the explanation is in the ALT text.

The Shape of Wind Through Leaves and the Incident of the Little Dog's Squeaky Toy, is a very long title.

The photograph is of an autumnal tree covered in yellow leaves. The "little dogs squeaky toy" reference is about a little Jack Russell dog who ran up to me to see what I was doing. Full of energy this dog dropped it's toy for me to pick up a throw. Of course I did. Several times.

This ball throwing incident happens to me quite a lot as my flash is mounted on a bracket that is similar in appearance to a throwing launcher for dogs toys. Good times.

The leaves on the tree form an almost ball like shape on with a slight lean to the left as the strong wind blows from right to left. All of the leaves shimmer in the wind.

Photographed in Brockwell Park, South London, this is a deliberately underexposed, so a dark picture, relit by an off camera flash. There are grey clouds scudding behind the tree. Everything is in motion. The composition is square and very close on the tree.

A picture that makes me very happy. Every picture is a memory. Every picture tells a story

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

A CHRISTMAS THEMED ROMANTIC COMEDY The Soviet War Memorial Treptower Park Berlin 16th December 2018

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Symbols & Seeds - #LeicaQ ƒ/16 @1/2000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) - Trousers: Until recently, no one universal symbolism. - Attitude: The Garden of the Prophet. One of my all time favourite pictures. For me, eveything works. #Photography #GalleryArtist #Autumn

Large, battered sunflower heads agains a very dark sky. Photographed on Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin, these flower heads (15 in total) seem to all have turned towards the viewer at the same moment.

These flowers now seem to be assoicated with the Russian War dead in Ukraine. I don't know if it is true but part of the mythology of the war is that Ukranian women gave sunflower seeds to the invading Russian soldiers. When they were buried the flowers would grow. That is very emotionally dark. I used this picture to raise funds for Ukraine in an onlineprint sale organised by my agent Tea & Water Pictures.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Leaves That Fell In Love With the Ground ƒ8 @1/250 ISO:400 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) Trousers: A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) Attitude: A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions (1787). #Photography #GalleryArtist #Autumn

A carpet of yellow leaves beneath a tree laden with the same yellow leaves. A common enough sight in Hyde Park, London. Photographed Low available autumnal daylight, with off camera fill in flash. The tree and the leaves on the floor fill the composition approx 50% - 50%to the top and edge of the image frame creating a wall of yellow.

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Grant Simon Rogers @gsr64.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Psithurism in Brown & Silver  - ƒ/14 @1/1000 ISO:200 Daylight & Flash (on, fired) - Trousers: Volkspark Hasenheide - Attitude: A blue sky hello and this one is for those who got me started.

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