Photographers observe; artists interpret. Today’s digital imaging technology enables the synthesis of the two into a new medium that expands the horizons of both while permanently and increasingly blurring the distinctions between them. Sam’s work attempts to explore the application of digital manipulation to photographic observation in the service of artistic expression – that is, he uses Photoshop to interpret artistically what he has observed photographically. The results are photomontages of considerable complexity.
While it is true that within Photoshop there are automated effects that might be considered the 21st century equivalent of Paint-by-Numbers, the software also incorporates an amazingly extensive and complex tool set which allows the realization of virtually any conceivable vision. It is those capabilities that Sam invokes in the production of his various series. His images occupy the boundary between photography and painting; they combine a lifelong interest in photography with a determination to go beyond what the lens records, into the realm of imagination and creativity.
