of course, i am posting these works as they reflect my subjective view. my apologies to those that find them uncomfortable.. hopefully not inappropriate within in the context of a UV/IR photography forum.
Your IR pictures are not “”Awkward”, far from it, they are well balanced, self assured to the nth and totally balanced.
UV insect vision might appear awkward as it provides color patterns we never see or hardly imagine. So it’s as if someone dyed the flowers. However, for science, they work exactly as intended and are in that context feats of achievement and worth.
The IR work, like Van Goghs harsh brush stokes have an excess of the normal tranquil level
of attention-grabbing magnetic energy we are used to in what we would otherwise expect to be relaxing garden or urban scenes.
IR light reflects, transmits and absorbs so so differently depending on the life qualities of the subject and mass. So differences in living trees and the lifeless ground or buildings, (hardly noticed in a casual stroll), now become incredibly bold and demanding of our interest and awe.
It’s the difference between ladies coming together for an afternoon tea with scones and a street preacher thumping on his bible and praising the Lors and threatening damnation to non-believers.
The former is pleasant, genteel, non demanding while the latter keeps us on our feet as we cannot but pay attention to the starkly contrasted choices offered.
Still that preacher could be telling the truth and the gentle ladies could be just sleeping through life!
So to the IR pictures: they seem to me to be defined by their attention-getting exposure of hidden but real differences. One could even argue that what they show is more valuable to humans than the usual pictures we see, conflating the living with the dead!
Bob Friedman: Untitled
Nikon D800E ,Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED ,RG830
1/100s f/8.0 at 14.0mm iso200
But for art, some understanding of the place of the medium is needed and how it should be presented to others.
For sure, it appears to me that these pictures demand their own territory and should be surrounded by white space so they can breathe.
So, (just my point of view), they shouldn’t be placed close together as they are each so concentrated in energy and demands on our attention.
One cannot be passive to this kind of boldness in art, or be able to fully appreciate them stacked too close together. But I am opinionated on such things and of course others may feel differently.
Asher