Digital Impressions in the Metaverse
Impression (n): A notion, remembrance, belief, etc., often of a vague or indistinct nature
Impressionism (n): A 19th-century art form that rejected the clarity of form that had previously served to distinguish the more important elements of a picture from the lesser ones; sought to capture the optical effects of light to convey the fleeting nature of the present moment.
Impressionist photography (n): A suggestion of motion, absurd angles, blurry figures, and expression of light
I stumbled into what I’ve started calling digital impressions, blurred images captured on my iPhone either by chance or with intention. The first time it happened, it was an accidental photo taken of me in a yellow, flowy dress reminiscent of Beyonce’s now famous “Lemonade” gown. I’m wearing the same dress in the photo on my “About Me” page.
In the photo, I am looking down, readjusting myself for the camera in the awkward way I tend to do when I’ve run out of ideas on how to pose myself in front of the camera. In my indecision, my readjustment, my quest to find the perfect pose, something truer emerged: the beauty of movement.
I’ve been captivated by this image for a few years now, by the ability of the camera to trap something so elusive. With photographic impression, movement is frozen into stillness and rendered visible. There is something stunning about this, about seeing light and matter crystallized into a moment in time.
During that same trip to Costa Rica, the trip that I believe kickstarted my love for nature photography, I caught this movement of grazing cows as we drove high into the mountains of Liberia on an open-air bus. Both the foreground and background are blurred, and yet the cows come through the image more sharply. There is something about the blurred forest that turns the photograph into something dynamic and enchanting. The bumpy hills transform into rolling knolls. You can almost feel the bus zooming past the ranch. Even the black cow near the bottom right corner seems to be caught galloping towards the trees.
This last one captures both light and color in a way that evokes the mood of this evening almost better than I could with words. On the piano is Charlotte artist CannoliCannoliCannolis crooning on the keyboard. The energy at the Warmack that night was a buzz, but that’s just the kind of crowd these guys bring out. The purple and blue hues blend into one another and the silhouette of the audience captures their rapt attention. The impressionist style of this accidental photo communicates the mood much more accurately than a sharp image ever could. In my mind’s eye, every great party—where the music makes you feel things and move—bathes in neon hues like this one.
Here are a few more images I’ve shot that share this photographic impressionist style. On the left, a dance party in an abandoned church in Charlotte. In the middle: the Baltimore Harbor. And on the right, the Washington Monument in DC.
Notice the way light and color turn still images into something dynamic, like magic.