Can you tell us a bit more about your mini-series titled “Fragility”?
https://judystokesphotography.com/fragility
I have always loved skeleton leaves, they illustrate to me, so beautifully, the passing of time and the different phases of life cycles. I wanted to explore them photographically and take the time to catch their delicate and poignant reminder of the fragility of our existence… and the fragility of each moment – something we often seem to forget as we rush around in the busyness of life. Each image in this series is a composite image. I’d collected the leaves and kept them hanging around my kitchen until the right moment struck to pop them against a white piece of paper next to the window and photograph them with their shadows. Some of the images were taken holding my camera still and some moving my camera. Later in post-production, I let the thoughts in my head work themselves out into the images as I put different ones together. I like to allude to these personal stories with the titles of the images, but then leave viewers to have their own interpretation and stories too.
Can you tell us the inspiration behind your latest collection “Our Land” and the process behind achieving these stunning photos?
https://judystokesphotography.com/our-land
The images in “Our Land” are all ICM images - mostly taken from the passenger seat of our Unimog camper as we traveled around New Zealand. Tired of living in the city, we sold up and went in search of our next spot of heaven to stop and set ourselves up. Traveling around New Zealand, North and South, I was struck by just what a wonderfully diverse country we have – diverse in terms of land variety, as well as diversity and beauty of the people and cultures within the land. Uppermost in my head at the moment is the desire for everyone to accept, to pull together as one, to embrace our differences, and celebrate our diversities. Not being a photographer of people, facets of nature take on human characteristics as I work through the stories in my head.
What inspires you to take photographs?
The beauty of the natural world we live in inspires me, and the desire to have solitude in it. For me, photography is almost a form of meditation. With photography, I can disappear from the humdrum of life into my own world. It helps me see things differently, it helps clear my head. It is also something that makes my heart sing. I come back from an hour or two behind the camera, with an empty camera battery but a very full human battery – it gives me energy and refreshes my soul!
Read the full story in our journal.
