Paul Ratigan manipulates the elements to create unique images
Having worked for advertising photographers in the past, Paul decided to specialise in architectural photography and currently works for a variety of clients involved in the building industry from architects and engineers to interior designers.
He keeps the urban environment central in his art, with architecture and structural engineering forming the focus of his subject matter. Paul takes inspiration from designs which combine functionality, and dynamic shapes, forming abstractions. He uses photography to capture the joining of the abstract and the tangible, using texture, perspective, light and shade. Viewers are invited to be curious, and to explore the works more closely, to identify the combination of objects both new and old, different materials and architectural styles.
Instead of portraying reality, Paul uses the camera to blur the line between reality and the abstract, by overlaying multiple images on top of each other, in his series ‘Cities’. An alternative version of the architecture is created as he manipulates the elements, emphasising some and suppressing others to produce a unique image that only exists when the images are overlaid in a specific order, with a specific density.
Slight changes result in new resultant colours, shapes and forms. Paul rejects compositional norms, removing patterns and repetitions that are present when images are overlaid, and creates a textural space that is dense and complex.
Paul works with raw files, manipulating and changing the colours of the layers in a digital environment. However, he ensures that the technology maintains the original concept , which is a concept that was decided on before the photos were taken. First, he draws up the layout of the finished piece, then researches the subject matter, before taking the photographs. For Paul, he prefers to have a finished vision in mind beforehand, and then work towards it.
Check out ‘Cities’ here
