TITLE: Living Atop the World

We drove to the village of Puértolas in the Spanish Pyrenees. The day was glorious, with beautiful clouds and the mountains in the background, but the roof and chimneys of the homes caught my eye. I focused on the roof and chimney of this house with the mountain, clouds and valley below in the background to emphasize the view living on top of the world in the Pyrenees.

AUTHOR: Keith Manning (United States)

My explorations around the world (to four of the seven continents), visiting and living with diverse peoples, and some of the most beautiful natural scenery our planet has to offer, has motivated my art.

I begin with color landscapes, panoramas and portraits, utilizing the light nature offers in the moment. Most of the time I visualize in greyscale (black and white). The creative process of transforming a color image into greyscale is particularly exhilarating.

The techniques of my greyscale images have been largely inspired by Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams.
In portraiture, my preference is to capture people doing something, especially performing. In landscapes natural lighting, clouds and/or water moving at different speeds, contrasting with seemingly static scenery can create interesting images. By manipulating a scene with longer exposures I seek to enhance tonal variations and complex textures transforming an interesting image into an unusual, unique and unworldly piece of art. My intent is for the viewer’s imagination to travel where ever the art piece may take them.