Defining My Artistic Style

I’ve been working in the realm of toy photography since 2008, so it’s only natural, that by now I will have developed somewhat of a style. I go through periods of creation. Some periods fog would be my marker, others monochrome. But what is definitive overall?

Here is a selection of work over the years. Pieces I considered favorites at the time and still see merit in. For this purpose I’m also only considering personal work, nothing made for commissions.

Below each set of pictures, per year, are words and short phrases that define what I was creating that year.

The most repeated phrases –

discovery – 5
self – 4
mental health – 3
reflections – 3
fear – 3

So I guess that’s it, and I suppose something I would have defined in much simpler terms if asked what my work represents. But, as we’ve gotten to this answer by a more complicated means – I create self-portrait images representing self discovery. Within that self discovery are reflections of very human emotions like fear, and struggles with mental and physical health. But a finding of oneself, or a reconnecting with, can be beautiful within it all.

My about page may have already successfully defined this for us lol, but it’s good to look back at my old work and see the line that has tied it together over the years.

“Pictorialism for modern times. Tourmaline . captures staged, miniature moments. Time at a standstill in between an imagined before and after. These moments elicit familiar emotions that plague our current times – anxiety, depression, longing, with the occasional bit of joy, and a finding of ones-self amidst it all.”
https://toy.photography/about/