Insta-Con – Connie Imboden

connieimboden

For over 35 years I’ve been photographing the nude in water, often beneath the surface, & reflected in scratched partially de-silvered mirror shards

I love discovering illusions in my own latest work

I love discovering illusions in my own latest work while simultaneously being engrossed in teaching my Visual Illusions @nordphotography_workshops course.
“Everything that deceives may be said to enchant”. - Plato
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#photography #throughthelens #illusions #fineart #transformation

The next @nordphotography_workshops is just around

The next @nordphotography_workshops is just around the corner- Visual Illusions Level 2 runs April 13th - June 15th!
LIVE through Zoom on Thursdays, 1pm - 3pm EST. Details and registration link below and in bio 🙂
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Read more and register at https://www.nordphotography.com/visualillusion2

Often times, working with so many visual layers it

Often times, working with so many visual layers it becomes difficult to see all the nuances, all the fine details of what I'm seeing when I'm looking through the camera. Just as often, a very minor, subtle shift can completely transform the way these layers interact and merge with one another. It's a dynamic that lends itself to an intuitive process, one that requires me to intensely focus on the composition of graphic elements and the arrangement of line and shape. And sometimes, the way things come together takes my breath away.
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#photography #throughthelens #fineart #transformation #illusions

The first workshops of 2023 kick off next month wi

The first workshops of 2023 kick off next month with Visual Illusions Level 1 @nordphotography_workshops ! This is a great foundation for some of the more advanced workshops later in the season, and a great opportunity for any New Year's resolutions involving more time and dedication to your work 😜
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LIVE through Zoom, every Thursday between Feb 2nd-March 30th. Details and registration link below and in bio 🙂
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Visual illusions are not only fascinating, they are powerful. It plays with the line between knowing and seeing. We think we “know” something but our eyes tell a different story. This class is about ways of exploring, discovering, developing, and utilizing the influence of illusions beyond mere tricks of seeing to compelling and poetic communication.
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Read more and register at https://www.nordphotography.com/visual-illusions-level-1

It's like a seasonal impulse, a compulsion trigger

It's like a seasonal impulse, a compulsion triggered by colder weather and shorter days - the urge to look back and review the past year's worth of work. It's remarkable to me that although I'm working with much of the same materials and same approach over the course of 35+ years, each year has it's own distinctive threads, its own common themes. I can nearly identify any particular image simply by recognizing the visual elements that were recurring during any particular year.
While I am only just beginning to consider 2022, I'm already excited to see some of the elements that are defining the essence of this year's work. One thing that has started to stand out to me is the similarities and differences connected to the bulk of 2019's work. In both years, the figures are often simplified into elegant relationships between line and shape. There is depth in the rich, dark black of the backgrounds. In 2022, however, the color palette is much cooler- practically the opposite of the striking red that I had worked with for so long. The forms are no longer hard edged, razor sharp and geometric- they have become ephemeral, mysteriously translucent. Parts of the figure merge in ways that intertwine, overlap, and fade into one another. They relate to one another, and sometimes blend in to one another, though it's not always clear just how they merge...
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#photography #fineartphotography #yearinreview

Untitled #09-02-22-65, and a detail from Braque’

Untitled #09-02-22-65, and a detail from Braque’s “Violin & Palette”, 1909.
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Throughout 2021 and 2022, I've noticed the emergence of a sort of melodic, lyrical expression in my work. Forms of the body and lines of abstracted cloth interweave and blend with one another to resemble shapes reminiscent of musical instruments. I would never have expected my images to echo the qualities of the work of the cubist movement of the early 20th century, but I was struck by this comparison of a recent photograph with Braque's "Violin and Palette". The blending of the shapes of the bodies has a similar layered, fragmented effect to the way artists like Braque and Picasso would reinterpret reality by illustrating multiple views of a subject into one depiction of it. Like the violin, there is just enough information to identify the shapes as belonging to a body, and the mirrors allow the front of a female body to blend with the back of a male body. They are a bit more ethereal than the hard edges of Braque's geometric abstractions, though I feel they have a quality more similar to that of his brushstrokes. The rounding curves of the human form are like the exterior shape of the violin, while the electric lines of the red cloth feel like strings.
It's always interesting to see these unintended connections develop, and I'm always surprised by how certain bodies of work, from one year to the next, can elicit the qualities of different movements, developments, and visual aspects from throughout art history.
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#admiration #inspiration #influence #photography #fineartphotography #Braque

Coming up OCT 12- Visual Illusions Level 2 with @n

Coming up OCT 12- Visual Illusions Level 2 with @nordphotography_workshops!
LIVE through Zoom on Wednesdays, beginning Oct 12 and wrapping on Dec 7. Details and registration link below and in bio 🙂
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Visual illusions are not only fascinating, they are powerful. It plays with the line between knowing and seeing. We think we “know” something but our eyes tell a different story. This ONLINE course is about ways of exploring, discovering, developing, and utilizing the influence of illusions beyond mere tricks of seeing to compelling and poetic communication.
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Read more and register at https://www.nordphotography.com/course-visual-illusion-level-2

Just returned from Iceland. The combination of the

Just returned from Iceland. The combination of the magical landscape and the vision of my truly talented students was powerful. Enjoy!
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@nordphotography_workshops #fineartphotography #photography #nudeinlandscape #inspired #grateful

REIMAGINE THE HUMAN FORM in ICELAND: SEPT 11 - 16,

REIMAGINE THE HUMAN FORM in ICELAND: SEPT 11 - 16, 2022, with @nordphotography_workshops
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That’s right! In just TWO MONTHS, we’re heading to Úlfjótsskáli, Iceland for a LIVE, in-person workshop! We have a 10 participant limit, so be sure to check it out and sign up before spaces are full. Scroll right to see our GORGEOUS location and accommodations, and see below for more info. Registration link in bio as well 🙂
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Black sand beaches, electric blue ice caps, dramatic fjords, volcanic craters, and seemingly endless lava fields: a STUNNING landscape that will serve as the backdrop for exploring the human form. Registration is almost full- don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity!
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https://www.nordphotography.com/icelandconnieimboden
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#photography #photographyworkshops #fineartphotography

•AUG 15 – AUG 19, 2022• We’re heading back

•AUG 15 – AUG 19, 2022•
We’re heading back to Maine in 2022 for Visual Metaphors: a LIVE, 5 day in-person workshop on the beautiful coast at the @mainemedia Workshops and College!
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Aristotle says in Poetics: “the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor...”
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Metaphors are powerful yet nuanced ways to communicate. As the basis of poetry, they are highly effective in conveying complicated ideas, combining surprising images, and making profoundly moving connections.
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Metaphors are not limited to words, and in this class we will explore how visual relationships can develop compelling images. To create these metaphors we will explore various types of reflections and discover comparisons with spatial relationships.
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For more info, check out the link below or in bio!

https://www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/item/the-visual-metaphor/

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#mainemedia #mainemediaworkshops #visualmetaphors #photography • photo by Alexis Mpaka

I had a wonderful and engaging conversation recent

I had a wonderful and engaging conversation recently that brought up the question of working with the body- specifically, why?
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My interest in photographing various disruptions and alterations of the human form began as a young, angsty art student at the @marylandinstitutecollegeofart . I had taken to creating a series of self-portraits where I experimented with cutting, scratching, and even burning negatives. This image was the result of something like a photomontage, cutting two negatives and adjoining them together in the enlarger, while placing tape on the glass to make it appear to piece together the broken image of my self. Although it was not my intention to reveal the insecurity and identity issues I kept hidden from the outside world, these self-portraits - in retrospect - were expressions of my desire to conceal what I feared to be dark secrets, to hide my true self behind the veil of a mask. In this case, the duality of the broken individual I felt I was on the inside and the sad, quiet mask I wore to hide it on the outside. I was, of course, unaware of it at the time- it has taken many years to fully grasp the meaning behind these images and understand their significance.
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Over 35 years later, I'm still fascinated by the potential for the body to be used as a vehicle for expressing the most profound emotions – love, sorrow, anger, ecstasy. It is a powerful subject that can force us to confront ourselves and how we see the body; our reactions, our discomfort, or our attraction. It has the potential to push us to witness the depth of our own humanity, provided we have the courage to look and the capability to see past our initial judgements, preconceptions, and visual assumptions.
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#photography #fineartphotography #blackandwhitephotography #connections #visualart

Ever since incorporating color into my work with t

Ever since incorporating color into my work with the mirrors, I have been drawn to the power of the color red. Sometimes it is dominant in an image, occasionally lighting an entire figure in red, while other times its presence is a little more subtle, as in this image, Untitled #06-25-15-176. The red comes from a cloth that was draped on one side of the mirror- an inclusion that had been explored after seeing the blue of a yoga mat in the studio accidentally reflected in several images. Before then, I had never even considered using color in the space SURROUNDING the figure, nor as cloth to introduce it, but once I considered the potential I began to wonder what other colors and methods I could experiment with.
In this image, though it's edges are hardened by the shape of mirror shards, the red feels to me like a reinterpretation of the flowing fabric incorporated into so many baroque and renaissance paintings, such as in this detail of Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian (1520-1523). Painters of these era's would use such dramatic drapery as methods of metaphor, sometimes to articulate an expression, to illustrate a more mythological environment, or even as a way to define the human form while simultaneously concealing it... and more often than not, for all of the above.
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#admiration #inspiration #influence #photography #fineartphotography #titian

Some of the latest work in the mirrors continues t

Some of the latest work in the mirrors continues to bring familiar layers and forms together in ways I haven’t seen before, blurring the lines between where one body ends and another begins…
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#photography #throughthelens #fineart #transformation #illusions

A couple spots left still available for the upcomi

A couple spots left still available for the upcoming Visual Illusions Level 1 with @nordphotography_workshops!
LIVE through Zoom, every Monday between April 25th-June 13th. Details and registration link below and in bio 🙂
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Visual illusions are not only fascinating, they are powerful. It plays with the line between knowing and seeing. We think we “know” something but our eyes tell a different story. This class is about ways of exploring, discovering, developing, and utilizing the influence of illusions beyond mere tricks of seeing to compelling and poetic communication.
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Read more and register at https://www.nordphotography.com/visual-illusions-level-1

More recent work from early 2022, continuing with

More recent work from early 2022, continuing with this strange, ethereal twisting and transformation of forms. Some of these images strike me at how they almost make anatomical sense, and then the more I look at them the stranger they get…
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#photography #throughthelens #fineart #transformation

Visual Illusions Level 1 with @nordphotography_wor

Visual Illusions Level 1 with @nordphotography_workshops is just around the corner!
LIVE through Zoom, every Monday between April 25th-June 13th. More details and registration link below and in bio 🙂
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Visual illusions are not only fascinating, they are powerful. It plays with the line between knowing and seeing. We think we “know” something but our eyes tell a different story. This class is about ways of exploring, discovering, developing, and utilizing the influence of illusions beyond mere tricks of seeing to compelling and poetic communication.
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Read more and register at https://www.nordphotography.com/visual-illusions-level-1

The “Becoming” talk with @peterbruunartist and

The “Becoming” talk with @peterbruunartist and @kenroysterphotography was an absolute blast! Peter is such an insightful artist and curator, and I was delighted by some of the threads he observed throughout the course of my work- including this fascinating visual connection between a very early photograph (mid-1970’s) of a tree trunk and an image from my early explorations shooting in the mirrors.
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There’s so much more in the talk, I was truly impressed with how much ground we were able to cover in the time we had, and far too much to share here… so I’ll leave it up to you to see for yourself! Link below, and in my bio 👍
ENJOY!
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https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/689382596
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#photography #fineartphotography #blackandwhitephotography #connections #visualart

TOMORROW! Sign up for this FREE event to get the Z

TOMORROW! Sign up for this FREE event to get the Zoom link and join us over space and time for a discussion on the creative path and decision making!
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The second event in a three-part series hosted by @peterbruunartist called BECOMING, @kenroysterphotography and I will be discussing our creative processes and artistic journeys through a live Zoom broadcast on March 16th, 7pm EDT. Registration is open through EventBrite via the link below and in my bio!
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https://www.eventbrite.com/e/becoming-connie-imboden-ken-royster-tickets-253060319227?keep_tld=1

The second event in a three-part series hosted by

The second event in a three-part series hosted by @peterbruunartist called BECOMING, @kenroysterphotography and I will be discussing our creative processes and decision making through a live Zoom broadcast on March 16th, 7pm EDT. This online event is FREE, and registration is open through EventBrite via the link below and in my bio!
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https://www.eventbrite.com/e/becoming-connie-imboden-ken-royster-tickets-253060319227?keep_tld=1

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