#accidental abstracts

[daveamisdpda]

Shadows as 'accidental art'

We had sunshine yesterday. That means we had shadows as well. Shadows can form interesting shapes and patterns, ones that could be seen as looking like intentional art. I hope I've captured that in these three images…

Shot: 25.04.26

[daveamisdpda]

Getting experimental

Basically, what the title says:) This is freeing myself up to try out different ideas, knowing that some will work and that others will fail. It's about not being afraid to fail. It's also about making photography fun again:)

Location: Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, UK | Shot: 29.04.26

[daveamisdpda]

Accidental abstract art

Playing around with shadows, patterns and textures:)

Shot: 14.03.21

[coolleopard]

Si(gh)t(e) (The Old Blind School)

On Streets of Hope and Hardman,

The Old Blind School. Once a site for poor eyes,

In transition an unwitting sight for sore eyes.

 Flake, splinter, crack.

Occasional tile.

 Wooden batten and joist.

Sockets, wires, rails and pipes.

 Splash smear stains – glue and water -

Brushstrokes. Palimpsestic paint.

 Worn torn wallpaper layers.

Fragments, hints, echoes.

 Scratch, scribble, line -

Traces of instruction and measurement.

 Arbitrary, random alpha-numerics,

Dislocated words, secret instruction,

 ‘X’ marks the spot.

Hidden hearts, crepuscular stars,

 Soon-to-be-extinguished like

Supernatural light switches.

 Ghost shelves and radiators -

Fixtures and fittings of past lives.

 Creamy cake with bright jam filling,

icing and ice cream.

 Sweet confections –

Battenburgs and icebergs.

 Many-cratered moonscapes,

Landscapes, contours and continents.

 Circles, Crop.

Lines, Nazca and Song.

 Dream time, race tracks,

Roads, routes, paths.

 Jagged fiord-coastlines,

Many-tributaried rivers, furrowed fields.

 Mountains and mushroom cloud.

Aerial views, valleys, grids, military maps.

 Scars, wounds, pockmarks,

Penetrative transgressions.

 Dancing fire-images breaking boundaries

Of Surrealism and Abstraction.

 Ernst grattage, Dubuffet, and Fautrier tachisme;

Fontana slashes, Jackson’s stalactite drips.

 Old Moore bones, shells, rocks  

And Dali’s entropic melts.

 Aged smiley with Beatle haircut,

Daddy Long Legs, weevil, whale,

 Eagle, cockatoo, crocodile.

Snake, reptilian Jurassic ferns.

 Teeth, tusk, trunk.

Diplodocus and Stegosauria.

 Arm, leg, head, mouth,

Whiskers, eyes, beak, snout.

 Faces, figures - human and

Wild beast – forth from walls.

 Shades of Chauvet, and Lascaux,

Ajanta and Elephanta,

In these troglodyte marks.

Si(gh)t(e) (The Old Blind School), (Accidental Abstracts series) 2014

The Old Blind School building, built in 1851, home to the first school of its kind in Britain, was one of the venues for the excellent ‘A Needle Walks Into A Haystack’ exhibition, Liverpool Biennale 2014.

Despite the engaging art on display, what caught my attention most was the incidental beauty of the decaying Grade-II listed building itself. It was also formerly home to a Trade Union Centre and The Picket music venue. The building was restored earlier this year and recently re-opened as a gastro-pub.

I was glad to be able to capture, record and preserve the often beautiful, sometimes disconcerting, always evocative, accidental abstracts found around the dilapidated building, on the ceilings, floors and, primarily, walls.

Don’t miss the full slideshow.