Photo Alchemy
Photo AlchemyThe workbench
Collage and montageCut and rebuilt
African Art FusionWith Simon Shone
Majestic Panoramas
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Twenty eight collections, and more being added
Photo AlchemyThe workbenchCollage and montageCut and rebuiltAfrican Art FusionWith Simon Shone
Ethereal landscape photography by Martin Osner: gentle light, mist and multiple exposures made in camera, from infrared Ethereal Reverie to Secrets in Eden.
An ethereal landscape feels more like a memory than a record. The place is still there, but light, mist, movement and layered exposures take over from detail, so what reaches you is the mood of the place rather than a map of it.
"In this collection, landscapes are reimagined as gentle impressions rather than literal places. Whether I am working with single exposure impressions, multiple exposures made in the camera, infrared, or layered textures, my focus is on interpretation rather than documentation. Sometimes the process carries on into mixed media and painting.
I see the camera as a powerful instrument on the workbench, an essential tool for translating a feeling into a visual impression. Each piece is shaped by instinct and the quiet poetry of a place."
The collection holds five bodies of work, each made in its own way: Creation, Secrets in Eden, Ethereal Reverie, Aura and Caprice.
Prints and originals from this series are sold through Osner Art Gallery, not on this site.
See prints of this seriesTap any picture to see it larger. Nine show on a phone, the whole collection is here on a larger screen.
Ethereal Reverie No.5
Creation No.1
Carbon Woodlands
Eminence No.1
Ethereal Reverie No.7
Quintessence No.1
Secrets in Eden No.3
Seclusion
Eminence No.3
Creation No.2
Ethereal Reverie No.4
Majestic Peak
Quintessence No.2
Ethereal Reverie No.3
Ebony & Ivory - Moonlight
Eminence No.2
Secrets in Eden No.1
Creation No.3
Quintessence No.3
Ethereal Reverie No.2
Daybreak over the Glen
Eminence No.4
Majestic Morning
Ethereal Reverie No.1
Quintessence No.4
Creation No.4
Secrets in Eden No.2
Solitude Panoramic
Ethereal Reverie No.6
Eminence No.5
Quintessence No.5
Mirror Island No.2
"There are times when a photograph feels less like something you make and more like something you are given. The Creation series is exactly that, a body of work that unfolded almost by grace rather than effort.
After weeks of searching and countless days of grey skies, I found myself alone in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, ready to call it quits. Then, as if on cue, the clouds parted and the softest light I had ever seen drifted across the trees. It felt as if the landscape had been holding back until the moment was right. What followed was a few hours of instinctive, emotional photography that I will never forget."
Four images, each limited to 7 prints, hand signed with a certificate of authenticity.
Secrets in Eden, Ethereal Reverie and Caprice"Secrets in Eden began in a secluded forest in a deep gorge on the back slopes of Table Mountain. It felt so untouched that for a time I wanted to keep it to myself, like a small corner of the Garden of Eden." Each piece is a tribute to a painter Martin admires, Matisse, Monet and Van Gogh, made with multiple exposures layered one over another in the camera until light and form blend like paint.
Each limited to 10 prints, whatever the size.
"Infrared photography has long fascinated me for its ability to lift a scene out of the ordinary. The highlights take on a soft, glowing quality, while the shadows deepen into quiet pools of contrast." The series began in the Drakensberg in the early 2000s on infrared film, grew in the Kuiseb Canyon in Namibia in 2013, and continues in the Table Mountain National Park.
Each limited to 20 prints, whatever the size.
"Photographed just down the road from my studio on a winter morning. The trees were still in shadow, but the mountain behind had already caught the first light of day." Made with multiple exposures in the camera. Sometimes, as the saying goes, an acre of diamonds can be found in your own backyard.
Limited to 25 prints, hand signed with a certificate of authenticity.
Multiple exposures of one subject from different viewpoints, with small shifts in focus and zoom that soften every layer. Inspired by Pep Ventosa and darkroom masters such as Jerry Uelsmann. Each limited to 15 prints, whatever the size. If you would like to learn the technique, Martin teaches it on the Swellendam Art and Photography Retreat.
A solitary tree in an untended field on a farm near Stellenbosch, high on the foothills of the Helderberg, with layered peaks and soft mist behind it and a row of autumn trees in the distance.
See Aura No.1 in the gallery
A lone tree in a hidden valley near Swellendam, ringed by high mountains. "Using a 360 degree multiple exposure, I layered each viewpoint to create an impression that feels almost like a memory rather than a record."
See Aura No.2 in the gallery
"It is not often that two elements side by side work with this technique, but here a 180 degree coverage with tightly zoomed layers came together beautifully." Yellow and blue balance warmth and cool.
See Aura No.3 in the galleryMartin teaches these in camera techniques, multiple exposures, infrared and the patience of waiting for the right light, on the Swellendam Art and Photography Retreat, held in the very valley where the Aura and Master Tree pictures were made.
Martin's most watched film, with more than 250,000 views. He explains the difference between photography, art photography and fine art photography, and why what you are trying to say matters more than the camera in your hands. It is the thinking behind every ethereal landscape on this page.
Watch on YouTube
Sold through Osner Art Gallery online, shipped worldwide, and shown in person at Osner Gallery in Hout Bay.
Go to the gallery
Online courses at the Art Photography Academy, live fine art classes on Zoom, and workshops on location.
See the courses
