Photographic art is in my blood and soul, it is my therapy, my sanctuary, my impression of the world as seen through my own eyes.
It's difficult to put into ordinary words how my visual senses have changed since embarking on the photographic journey, it's like having a separate abilty of vision, I absorb detail that others may not notice. I use this to mentally create an image which I then attempt to create digitally.
Sometimes it's a gift, other times it's a curse...and sometimes it's something else that just can't be explained.
The imagery of Darkest Angel emanates from a period of pure darkness where all seemed lost, a journey through one's own personal Hell but coming back out through the other side with a whole new perspective, a total revisioning of the world as seen through the eyes of the one who believed he was condemned to darkness forever.
..
I'm still looking to do some really impactive material, something that will tear at the senses like a rabid dog.
There is a sense of escapism when I go on a shoot, the camera (Nikon D100)becomes something more than a digital device, it becomes a canvas on which to paint dreams and nightmares.
I am split in many ways, so many dark layers to my soul...these words from a Floyd song sum me up pretty well..."Tongue tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit, I"
Photography is more than just hitting a button, it's about time, it's about light, it's about emotion, it's about life, it's about art, it's about me! Photography is my legacy, it's what will be left when I'm gone from this fucked up world, it's my mark, my dark tattoo on life...feed on it and drain me dry!
But then, once in a while I have to break free from the "ordinary" and indulge in my creative side...please welcome my good friend Thamiel Kain, the beast of Whitby 2006!
And of course, not forgetting new guests to the Realm of Darkest Angel...
Within every image that I create there is an attempt to capture the deepest of emotions, for what is a picture if it has no story to tell?
Very few will understand or feel the intensity of what lies beneath the initial visual perception, in reality one has to know the true character of Darkest Angel to grasp an insight into the velvet darkness of a soul that has lived through the pain of loss and the salvation of love.
In no order of preference...Faithless, Pink Floyd, Chemical Brothers, Korn, Stone Sour, Therapy, Arch Enemy, and a whole multide of other sins to the ears...
In reality I suppose that I have reached a period in my life where I will indulge in most styles of music with the exception of pop, indie, R n B and anything else that doesn't produce that exquisite sonic tingling...
Television
Currently, Ashes to Ashes.
Books
Nothing in particular, but sometimes, just sometimes I find a poem that suits my demeanour such as "Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe...
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were, I have not seen
As others saw I could not bring
My passions from a common spring
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone
And all I lov'd, I lov'd alone
Then in my childhood in the dawn
Of a most stormy life was drawn
From ev'ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still
From the torrent, or the fountain
From the red cliff of the mountain
From the sun that 'round me roll'd
In its autumn tint of gold
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by
From the thunder, and the storm
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view!
Heroes
My late father who fought in the Second World War and never spoke of it with glory, only with disdain.
About me: The visionary world of Darkest Angel is a pool of dark, enigmatic and haunting imagery where the camera becomes something more than just a piece of technical equipment, it captures the emotion, the soul and dark spirit of the subject in its entirety.
Photography has changed my whole vision of the world that surrounds us, it creates a thirst in me to bring forward all that lays beneath the surface of skin and form, and weave it into a work of art and a tapestry of light, shadow...and more.
Greatly influenced by British photographer Simon Marsden (www.simonmarsden.co.uk), and the ongoing journey into the shadow world of Gothica, I attempt to translate all the sense of atmosphere into my imagery. Whether I am successful or not is up to you the viewer.
I am a member of numerous sites (but aren't we all?) in particular www.darkarts.org.uk, www.netmodel.com and www.modelmayhem.com all of which have a smattering of my photographic works.
So, all that is left to be said is "Welcome to the realm of Darkest Angel".
(Image courtesy G. Hoens)
(Please note that all photographs featured on this site (with exception of the one above) are my own work and as such I retain the copyright. Just ask if you wish to use...I don't bite...much!)
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread upon my dreams.
Who I'd like to meet: That's a difficult kind of question to answer in any ordinary way. But for starters I have absolutely no aspirations to meet celebrities of any standing...they're just ordinary people doing a job that they are most suited to, so good luck to them.
But given that I have tasted the rich blood of artistic visualisation I cannot deny that I hold some artists in high esteem, whether photographers or just creative artists, if their work affects me then it becomes like an addiction that is rarely sated, I always crave for more.
My leanings towards the creation of Gothic imagery is perhaps intrinsic within my own personality, being that I am dark by nature and with a perpetual romantic outlook that visually should speak of lost loves and broken hearts that need to be gently held.
I truly hope that my images speak to you as the viewer and that perhaps you may spend just a few extra seconds of your time to see the images not as just photographs but as an artistic creation with a story to be told
If you have read this far then I thank you most deeply from this ancient, bleeding heart filled with love for all beautiful things.
(All images created by and copyright of Darkest Angel)
Darkest Angel Photographics's Friend Space (Top 22)
Ahh thanks Pete! Got to work on the night, so won't be a really exciting Birthday but I'll have fun! Have a great Christmas and yes, hope we can meet in 2010.
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. [Patanjali]
hey, yea everythings fine thanks. just been working alot. pluss iv not been well for the past week, but im more or less better. hows you? what have you been upto? done much shooting?
