Sometimes it’s easier to keep it simple. If we dust off the old dictionary it makes things quite clear.
Impressionism ɪmˈprɛʃ(ə)nɪz(ə)m/ noun
- A literary or artistic style that seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve accurate depiction
Photography fəˈtɒgrəfi/ noun
- The art or practice of taking and processing photographs.
Put Simply?
Impressionist photography is the practice of taking and processing photographs that seek to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve accurate depiction.
There are 2 techniques that I use to achieve this.
- Moving the camera around while the shutter is open. This is called ICM aka Intentional Camera Movement.
- Stacking and overlaying multiple photographs to merge into a single image. This is usually just called Multiple Exposure
That’s great but what does it look like?
Why I love impressionist photography
Impressionism is all about capturing a feeling or mood so the possibilities are endless. You can visit a place over and over and come back with a different result every time.
Try this yourself
Go back to a place you have photographed many times. Your goal is to capture the emotion or mood of the scene.
The interaction between shape, colour and light is the key to achieving this. Experiment with motion and shutter speeds and check out the results. See something you like? try it again! Create a chaotic mess? Move on and try something else!
