Gee Greenslade is one of Australia’s foremost photographers and digital artists.
Highly celebrated, Gee was recently recognised as Canon Australian Professional Illustrative Photographer Of The Year. Gee produces photography but is probably best known for her manipulation, digital or otherwise, of these images. The resultant artwork is sometimes unrecognizable as having a photographic base (see her piece ‘Carl Sagan’). Gee recently took part in De La Liff’s 'Skrambled Eggs VI', where photographers were challenged to capture art using only their smartphone cameras.
Gee frames life as a digital artist:
How did you first get into photography and photoshopping?
Growing up we always had computers so I used a lot of DOS-based imaging programmes to create my work. I have some pretty fond memories of trying to make a 'Lion King' pop-up book using one of the earliest Pentium 486 computers with a programme called Harvard Graphics – at the time it was old hardware, but being six and playing with this computer was magic.
As I got older and computers progressed, my family bought a computer that ran Paint Shop Pro, which I bought in one of those PC mag trial disks. It wasn't until I was in highschool that I got a very cheap and absolutely terrible digital camera and began taking pictures.
What made you decide to pursue art as a career path?I guess I just fell into it. I had a choice between specialising in drama as part of a Bachelor of Arts at Flinders Uni, or Visual Arts at The University of South Australia. At the last minute I changed my mind to pursue visual arts and the rest is history. About six months into the course a friend put me forward for a position with Photographyroom in Unley which is when my passion for photography became serious. It's impossible to be surrounded by passionate photographers every day and not be totally enamored with it!
Do you agree with the description of yourself as a ‘digital artist’?
Honestly it's the best description I have to introduce people to my work, but it's not my favourite. People sometimes struggle with my being described as a photographer because my work is sometimes quite illustrative; I use a variety of art and design skills, knowledge and techniques in the creation of my photographic images, but that does not detract from the fact I am 100 per cent photographer to the core! I use the same amount of post-production applications and techniques as any of my film and darkroom peers. Artists like Jerry Ulesman are heralded for their exceptional darkroom retouching skills. My craft is no different except my skills are applied through a deep experience and understanding of digital artistry.
My favourite retouching story is how Stalin would have retouchers remove people he didn’t like from photographs. My dream is for people to appreciate that digital photography post-production has been around since the birth of photography and like everything else, advances in technology and the profession have broadened the variety of tools available. However, the principles and techniques used in photographic post-production remain the same at their core. So yes; I agree with the term 'digital artist', but over time I hope that people come to understand see my work as pure photography.What is ‘illustrated photography’ to you?
The term 'illustrative photography' is used by the Australian Institute of Professional Photography to refer to works that illustrate a privilege, a pint, an object or an idea. Illustrative photography can quite literally mean illustrating a book, or it could be a way of sharing ideas. In recent years illustrative photography has evolved and typically includes works that are digitally manipulated to illustrate an idea or concept.
Where do you get the inspiration for your artworks?LOL! Oh gosh, I love art galleries, exploring, getting lost in the back streets of new cities. Everything inspires me. I could be half asleep at 4am and suddenly I have to get something out. My biggest inspiration comes from my friends. I am lucky to be surrounded by some very talented folk, so we laugh, share ideas, work together and generally excite each other, even when we are working on very different projects and ideas.
Do you see the finished product in your mind when you take the photo or does it come later?
I usually have a very strong sense of the undercurrent and ideas coming through my work, but on the surface it's all a bit hippy dippy and free flowing. I don't get stuck on the original idea, so my works are open to become what they are. For example, one of the pieces that scored very well at the Australian Professional Photography Awards was a piece called 'Technologic'. Put simply, the original concept for the work was a head floating among galaxies. However, during the process of creating 'Technologic', I let the process take over. Her hair blowing in the wind brought me to nature and trees, her hair was then removed and replaced by tree branches among other alterations.
The process of creating often dictates the outcome – the finished work is often not the inspiration itself that is represented but the whole process and life that happens in between. Creating a piece usually involves working through, pushing and balancing the various conflicts and paradoxes in my head, versus how the actual file evolves – it's a strangely organic process.During the creation of 'Technologic, it went from a very stark, white ethereal concept to one that included botanical and technological elements as well as glitch art (corrupted data). The evolution happens in the moments between the computer and moving between life and the studio. I guess I'm an insatiable collector of feelings, ideas, thoughts and stories that converge in the process of creating.
What is your process for creating a manipulated photographic artwork from start to finish?
It's exceptionally hard to explain, because it really is a bit mad scientist. I guess it starts off with a basic idea and photoshoot with no bells and whistles in the lighting rig. From there, it's back and fourth from the computer to the studio for months on end deciding on new elements, photographing new parts and 'discovering' what the image wants to do.
Often people think of photographic post production as forcing an image to look a certain way, but I see it as an integral part of the creative process. The file tells me bottom up, top down and in every moment in between what it's limitations are and challenges me to work around it. I'm constantly balancing how much punishment my computer can take, how much information my camera will record and how much time I have and how I’m feeling on any given day and that's just the basics – technology, time, place, people, things, ideas, life. It all plays a central role in every piece.Some people would argue that photoshopping is ‘cheating’ or detracts from the original image. How do you respond?
Photographs have been subject to post-production and retouching since the advent of the camera. The current culture of 'happy snapping' has actually resulted in LESS photographic manipulation than has ever been seen before – people don’t recognise that even the most basic camera is making choices for you about colour, tone, lens distortion, exposure and when you take an image straight out of camera or straight onto film you are literally putting the control of you image into the hand of technology.
The stigma surrounding Photoshop and art is a bit of a furphy, tinged with ignorance in my view and has to go. I suspect the majority of push-back can be attributed to the use of Photoshop and other post production software applications to significantly alter images, bodies, locations etc. to sell via advertising. This is an industry specific use of the tools and techniques that form part of the photographic profession, but I think it's an oversimplification to exclude the greater number of photographers who are using the skills and tools of photography to communicate – just as an illustrator may use a pencil, a painter use a paint brush or sketch artist lay pen to paper as an expression of their creativity. Do we tell them they are 'cheating' because they use a pen or paint instead of words?
Photographers create with tools that belong to the profession, using cameras, visual arts and software. Photography literally translates to 'painting with light'. Acknowledging that painting with light is the professional pursuit, I believe that artists should be encouraged to paint whatever they please. I encourage everyone: get outside with your camera at night with sparkler, find the setting that leaves your camera shutter open for as long as you can and wave the sparklers around in front of the camera. This is called painting with light and it is exactly what I do every day!
I chose a lighting set-up, I decide what colours to use – a tiny blue tinge perhaps? Which side of a face do I light and photograph to communicate how I want the image to feel? Is it dark and mysterious or is it bright and airy? Even choosing what I frame is changing the integrity of the image. Staging a shoot, creating elements to photograph and post-production aren’t cheating, it's part of the professional skill set and an integral part of creative expression.
What software do you use in image manipulation?
I use a multitude of software in any given image. The primary application I use is Photoshop, but I am always on the look out and experiment with all sorts of programmes; Google's Deep Dream is fun, Glitch art and data bending with Audacity and Text Edit as well as the occasional dip into Microsoft Paint can be great. Whatever I have at my disposal, I'll give it a go!
Does one need expensive gear and full software packages to be a successful artist?Gosh no! I don’t! I have only just upgraded my camera from an old old 10 megapixel DSLR. The most important thing is knowing EXACTLY how to use the equipment that you have to the best of your ability. It's not the size of the gun, it's the power of the shot.
Do you think that new technology increases the possibilities for artists or is superfluous?
It's really a bit superfluous in my view. I think it makes people worry too much about having the best of the best gear without actually getting out there and doing the self reflection and work that it takes to create cool artwork. I wont deny that good gear has helped me out, but I also won't say that it's made my work any better. It's more something I do for me as a reward for rocking a new series or working hard for a long period of time.
Were there difficulties associated with being restricted to a smartphone camera in 'Skrambled Eggs VI'?
It's challenging for artists to work with the file data limitations – we're accustomed to having a lot of information in the file to push around to achieve exceptional fine art quality prints. Smartphones, while exceptionally sophisticated, simply do not have the dynamic range among other features of a DSLR.
'Skrambled Eggs' provides an opportunity to step back and work with very small, basic very file types that don’t have the same detail as a high-end DSLR, but I love the challenge!
Smartphones aren’t able to achieve the same detail as a DSLR, however, the truth is that there are things they can do better! For example if I’m out and about I don’t want to be carrying around a big camera just to photograph textures or paint splatters, sometimes the smartphone is actually a better tool. Smartphones also capture less depth of field (how blurry the background of a photograph is as opposed to the foreground) and so this makes the camera on a smartphone fantastic for photographing sketches on paper or flat, textured surfaces.
Really 'Skrambled' is about using the best camera you have with you at the time. A great photographer will make anything work regardless of how good it is
What advice would you give to your younger self and/ or aspiring artists?
Quit complaining about what you don’t have and get excited about what you do have. That crappy $100 camera you own or bad smartphone can do amazing things if you just spend some time with it. Things are going to get hard somedays but what's worse is growing old with regret.
'Skrambled Eggs VI' exhibits at De La Liff until 15 January. Gee Greenslade is a resident artist at the gallery. 
