Barbara White Uses Her Camera as a Paintbrush
For years, Barbara White has traveled the world, creating pictures that express the beauty, diversity and vibrancy of our planet's many cultures. The tools of her artworks are the camera and the magnificent worldwide scenes of people practicing their religions, the exotic buildings they live, work and pray in, and the natural world.
Barbara recently began looking closely at the flora in the cities and countryside of the regions she visits. This passion started in Alaska in 2008. While admiring the spectacular fall colors, she began shooting leaves, petals, berries and moisture formations of exotic plant life. Soon she was capturing the intrinsic beauty of water lilies, orchids, plumeria, purple anemones and fuchsia, among the multitude of plant species.
Working within a narrow depth of field, painting with light and color, Barbara White creates fine art photography that is reminiscent of still life Impressionist works. With out-of-focus backgrounds, they are often indistinguishable from paintings.
Capturing Faces
While traveling in Asia, Africa, South and Central America, she often strays from her companions, or awakens in the early hours to capture faces that are haunting, and at other times exuberant.
On shooting trips to South America, she shoots pictures when the light is just right. Her photos of animals, birds, lakes and mountains are artfully lit, using natural light as a stage designer might – to create mood and drama. She also shoots people, architecture, trees, gardens and shadows, examining the environment in terms of scale, color, light and mood.
Barbara White is almost constantly looking at people, architecture, trees, gardens and shadows, examining the environment in terms of scale, color, light and mood. She spends so much time waiting and looking that photographic art becomes her meditation, a time of reflection and absorption.
Monks in Line
When asked about a favorite people shot, she mentions "Reverence and Irreverence," photographed in Burma. "We were bringing juice to the monks, and they were lined up waiting for us to give it to them. This shot reminds me of a special time in my life. It also shows the devotion of the monks, along with the restlessness of children."
About "Babies at the Market," of two babies holding hands, shot in Mali, Barbara White explains, "I saw it coming and shot with available light and then with on-camera flash. After the flash, all the adults started wagging their fingers at me."
As an art photographer, she respects the places she sees, using photo shop techniques only sparingly, sometimes enhancing clouds or the sky, or bringing out shadows.
Exotic Cultures
As a long-time Laguna Beach, California resident, she is accustomed to observing beaches, canyons and landscapes lit by vibrant Mediterranean light. Yet, she reserves her camera for travels, preferring to shoot the exotic cultures that excite her passions.
Barbara White grew up in Orange County, CA, the daughter of an American Airlines pilot. "I love to travel and that's where I often get inspired for my pictures," she says. She has shot professionally for nearly three decades and taught architectural photography at Orange Coast College. She has two children and three granddaughters.
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