It was crowded. People were pressed against each other. Men, women and children all crowded around, each pushing against each other and straining to see... Through the gap in the crowd, I could nearly make it out...

One step... two steps... three... I was there! Finally at the front! I could now see the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. A work of art that I had seen in books and heard about throughout my art education. And finally it was my turn to see it in real life...

And at this momentous occasion do you want to know my first thought?

Art - What I Love About It | Sydney Pet Photographer

"Eh!"

Yep, that's right people. Face me with a priceless work of art that has been admired and revered for centuries and all I can think is 'Eh - I don't get it'.

And this is coming from someone who voluntarily visits the art galleries in all the cities when I visit a new country. I love art. I love how it speaks differently to different people. I love that's it’s subjective. I love the skill it takes and the vision and the creativity. It makes my world a little bit brighter.

But this piece. No, this world renowned masterpiece, it didn't speak to me AT ALL. Subjectively, it was a work of art, the skill and the detail involved but there was no emotion in it for me. It didn't make me FEEL.

I'm a big proponent that art should elicit an emotion from you. That's the great thing about art. When you look at a piece of art and it has the power to grab you by the throat and speak to you, it makes you FEEL. Whether you feel.. awe, despair, wonder, sadness, joy. Art speaks. How it speaks, is up to the individual.

And each piece won’t speak to every person, just as each piece might not speak the same way to each person. What you like and what someone else likes is purely subjective. Just like music, not everyone likes the same art, has the same tastes or sees the same thing the same way.

And that's the best part. What speaks to you doesn't necessarily speak to someone else. But the art that does speak to you - it should make you FEEL. It should instill some type of emotion from you.

That's the power of art and that's what photography should be.

It should be completely personal to YOU. It should make YOU feel. It should transport YOU to a memory, a time, a feeling and make YOU remember and feel everything you felt in that moment when it happened all over again, every time you view an image.

Snuggling with your dog, throwing a ball in the park, seeing their grinning face smiling up at you. Think about how YOU want to feel when you walk into your home.

An image of a grinning dog won’t make everyone feel the same way. But what if that grinning dog was YOUR dog? What if, as you walk through the front door, you see a canvas grouping of YOUR dog grinning at you?

How would that make you feel? Would it grab you by the throat every time you see it? Would you be overcome with emotion as you view it? Taking you to a time, a place, an emotion - making you feel all of it, all over again.

That's the joy of art, discovering what you like and what you want to live with in your home everyday. That what I want for you when you see the images I create for you.

Because - why shouldn't your art be personal? Why shouldn't it speak to you? It doesn't have to just look pretty but it can make you feel too.

When you walk through your home are you thinking - I need a natural toned print to fit in with your decor OR would a canvas set of images of you and your dog in a natural setting be more personal, more memorable and express more about YOU then a run of the mill, one of thousands, stock print ever could??

Would that stock standard, carbon copy artwork speak to you as much as seeing your furry family member up there?

It's up to you - what do you want your space to say?

Contact me to get your own artwork today.