honorable mention
Michael Bilotta united statesPhoto © Michael Bilotta
title
Our Common Home
A well known lyric, and certainly one associated with the hippie generation of the 60s, but it is also fact, not just poetic. We all come from the stars - the supernovae of the early universe turned light elements into heavy elements, and then formed clouds of gas, which formed planets, and so on.
We are all travelers in that sense, all immigrants from the universe, from the stars. It is easy to intellectualize this, harder to feel it with our increasingly hectic and disconnected lives. The stars were more revered and mystical in our ancient history, and the ancient astronomers of Sumeria, Babylonia, the Mayans and Ancient Greece, to name a few civilizations, were the first to chart the constellations, the first to observe the cycles and events in the night sky.
Wars were fought based on astral events, omens were perceived, gods were inspired, and of course the navigators charted their courses by them.
My image was a difficult one to complete - a nighttime scene is always harder for some reason - and the editing was tricky, despite the apparent simplicity of the piece. While not implicit, my subject is an ancient astronomer, observing the celestial bodies and mapping them. I wanted something open-ended and symbolic, the skin being a pattern of a star chart, and having that person gazing into the night sky - a sense of peace, even though it may be a lonely scene.
My title was found during a search for astral-related articles and ancient astronomers. Strangely, it is a quote from Gorbachev from the 1980s, where he referred to Europe as our common home. But taking this concept of origins to the extreme, the universe and the stars are really our common home.
All work is 100% photographic and the imagery is created as layered composites in Photoshop. His work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Healthy Living and Practical Photoshop, as well as on book covers and album art worldwide.
His awards include:
Outstanding Achievement in Photography (amateur)
Camera Obscura Journal
June 2013
Finalist/Winner
Canon Project Imagination
May 2013
Honorable Mention (Advertising/Conceptual)
Neutral Density Magazine 2014 Photography Awards
December 2014
Artist's Statement
Through my art, I explore the inner terrain of the mind - the fears, the hopes, the personal and universal human condition expressed through metaphor and allegory. They are surreal dreamscapes, conceived by piecing the individual photographic images together one at a time. They usually begin instinctively, with no concept in mind, until one is revealed through the process of improvisation, and the concept is then fleshed out further once it forms. The people, places and objects in the imagery are taken separately, and with these raw pieces I assemble something that straddles both the personal and the symbolic, surrealism with something that is collective and focused.
In my current work, I am exploring the individual at a crossroads in life, turning inward and facing who we are and what it means to be human at the fundamental level. I am using the guise of fantasy and surrealism to illustrate something meaningful and personal that speaks to me and hopefully resonates with others as well.
PRINTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AND ON SALE ON MY WEBSITE
back to gallery
entry description
"We are Stardust, we are golden…"A well known lyric, and certainly one associated with the hippie generation of the 60s, but it is also fact, not just poetic. We all come from the stars - the supernovae of the early universe turned light elements into heavy elements, and then formed clouds of gas, which formed planets, and so on.
We are all travelers in that sense, all immigrants from the universe, from the stars. It is easy to intellectualize this, harder to feel it with our increasingly hectic and disconnected lives. The stars were more revered and mystical in our ancient history, and the ancient astronomers of Sumeria, Babylonia, the Mayans and Ancient Greece, to name a few civilizations, were the first to chart the constellations, the first to observe the cycles and events in the night sky.
Wars were fought based on astral events, omens were perceived, gods were inspired, and of course the navigators charted their courses by them.
My image was a difficult one to complete - a nighttime scene is always harder for some reason - and the editing was tricky, despite the apparent simplicity of the piece. While not implicit, my subject is an ancient astronomer, observing the celestial bodies and mapping them. I wanted something open-ended and symbolic, the skin being a pattern of a star chart, and having that person gazing into the night sky - a sense of peace, even though it may be a lonely scene.
My title was found during a search for astral-related articles and ancient astronomers. Strangely, it is a quote from Gorbachev from the 1980s, where he referred to Europe as our common home. But taking this concept of origins to the extreme, the universe and the stars are really our common home.
about the photographer
Michael is an American award winning conceptual fine art photographer from the Boston, Massachusetts area. Before focusing his interests in the visual arts, Michael studied music at the Berklee College of Music, where he majored in songwriting and composition.All work is 100% photographic and the imagery is created as layered composites in Photoshop. His work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Healthy Living and Practical Photoshop, as well as on book covers and album art worldwide.
His awards include:
Outstanding Achievement in Photography (amateur)
Camera Obscura Journal
June 2013
Finalist/Winner
Canon Project Imagination
May 2013
Honorable Mention (Advertising/Conceptual)
Neutral Density Magazine 2014 Photography Awards
December 2014
Artist's Statement
Through my art, I explore the inner terrain of the mind - the fears, the hopes, the personal and universal human condition expressed through metaphor and allegory. They are surreal dreamscapes, conceived by piecing the individual photographic images together one at a time. They usually begin instinctively, with no concept in mind, until one is revealed through the process of improvisation, and the concept is then fleshed out further once it forms. The people, places and objects in the imagery are taken separately, and with these raw pieces I assemble something that straddles both the personal and the symbolic, surrealism with something that is collective and focused.
In my current work, I am exploring the individual at a crossroads in life, turning inward and facing who we are and what it means to be human at the fundamental level. I am using the guise of fantasy and surrealism to illustrate something meaningful and personal that speaks to me and hopefully resonates with others as well.
PRINTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AND ON SALE ON MY WEBSITE
back to gallery