THE WILD WONDER OF ICEBERG BLUES NOW
JULIEANNE KOST
Giant, gorgeous, and critical to our planet’s health, icebergs are wonderous wintry sculptures. Most people have only seen them in photos.
And whether in a photo or in real life, most views are from a distance. But award-winning photographer Julieanne Kost takes us up close and personal to reveal their astonishing form, color, and unparalleled beauty.
On a recent trip to Antarctica, Kost explored icebergs around Black Head, Cuverville Island, and Pleneau Bay via zodiac boat, so she could get an intimate eye-level view.
The tight shots show off the gradations of blue ice, from surface to deep inside, as well as the wildly varied textures.
As she works, Kost is constantly learning more, both about her subject matter and about the craft of image making.
Her passion for photography, mastery of innovative digital imaging techniques, and her degree in psychology, come together to produce brilliant, surreal, imagery.
“I begin with a concept in mind, yet I may not know exactly how the pieces will fit together at the end,” she explains. “As the image takes on its own life, I often allow myself to explore additional directions, sometimes finding that the final image only faintly resembles the one first imagined.”
Over the past 20 years, Kost has built up a library of individual image elements, ranging from photographs of textures and landscapes, to scans of found objects, to encaustic paintings and charcoal drawings. She draws upon them as she constructs new images according to her current vision.
“Because the components are created at different times in different locations, I find that my work falls somewhere between the more traditional photographic practice of capturing a single decisive moment and the time compression techniques used to tell a story in cinematography,” Kost explains.
Each element must evoke an emotional response. Kost combines them to create imaginary scenes, layering them, unconstrained by linear time and physical location, to form a cohesive message in a composite image that is more powerful than it’s individual parts.
Kost has been named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” and is a highly regarded photography instructor. She is a Principal Evangelist at Adobe Systems, offering insightful and inspirational Photoshop and Lightroom instruction. She also shares her original techniques and offers tutorials worldwide.
Kost’s work and teachings are published prestigious photography media platforms. And she has created over 500 instructional videos as the host of Adobe’s “The Complete Picture.”
Although Kost’s images are highly personal representations of her dreams and personal reality, they are abstract enough to allow individual interpretation (based on each individual’s history and life experiences.
There are so many options for exploration, that discipline becomes part of the challenge. “The paint is never dry, the exposure is never fixed, and the print is never final,” Kost says.
Learn more about Kost’s work and teachings on her website, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
Read more about Beautiful Winter Wonders in Real Surreal Winter, Wonderous Frost Flowers Hold Clues to the Origins of Life, and Super-Foods Make Skin More Beautiful Now.
And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.
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IMAGE CREDITS:
All images by Julieanne Kost. Antarctica.
