Frederick Alfaro Reflections without doubt are a central motif in Frederick Alfaro's photographic works. You'll meet Mona Lisa, young women, nudes, robots, dogs and shoes - and reflections of them in fascinating landscapes: oceans, canyons, mud flats, glaciers. Dali would have been enthusiastic to see the possibilities of bryce work. But it's not the software that makes the work of art. Frederick Alfaro's imaginary and dream-like sceneries are highly creative and imaginative compositions, integrating people, objects and nature in a surprising and ingenious way. I never (never!) would have thought that an old pair of shoes in a mud flat could be such an attractive image and eye candy. The photographer and designer Frederick Alfaro was born in South America, in Lima, Peru, and lived in Central America for a while, before landing in Miami Florida. He has spent most of his life in Los Angeles, California but he enjoys travelling around the world electronically. He tells us: "When I first came here to this country, I didn't know the language, so my education of American culture came in to me through early television in the late fifties. That doesn't mean I really watch the stuff today! That's probably why I'm more visual image oriented than book oriented. I spend my time on my computer with my dog, Chelsea (who sometimes shows up on my site), next to me. What a dog! I'm constantly looking for new ideas but, the only reading I tend to do is technical....and that's a lot. Simply put....creating graphics, with my buddy over here next to me, is what I enjoy and everything else is a means to that end." Art? Design? Experimental photography? How can we characterize his works? Digitally processed photos, without doubt. But not of that kind we meet on such a lot of websites to-day. Graphic software has become so cheap and easy to handle, that some thousands or more home page owner blow up up their sites with giant amateur compositions. If you look only of some of Frederick's works, you'll notice the difference immediately. And there are his "Impressions", portraits like nebulous memories and blurred images in our mind. "Throw in a little experimentation," Frederick says in our interview, "and you are headed towards art. It's sort of like cooking up a great piece of work.....you have to decide what you want to do with it. Start with an idea(a design)...put in some experimentation and create some art. Too much experimentation...too far removed from good affective design, and you'll have a hard time selling the idea.....to "arty." We are very proud to present twelve of his works in our gallery. Enjoy the exhibit! And if you like to see more: Visit his homepage: Frederick Alfaro Design Copyright for all works: Frederick Alfaro, Los Angeles Exhibit Design and Interview: Gerd Marstedt, The Fine Site All images are copyrighted and protected. |