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The Photographers Society:

Photographers in Focus: Marc Oliver Grad Photographers in Focus
What leads us to the notion that a picture we’re looking at is abstract? I must admit that in admiring the snapshots of Marc, the idea that finds its way into my head is, no doubt, that his photography appears to be in a wonderful transition towards the realm of the abstract. If there is something that always fascinates in abstract photography it’s that, in a way, it teaches us to separate what our eyes see -a chair, a flower …. – from what our brain interprets. That forces us to look differently at the reality around us by moving away from our perception of recognizable elements, and translating them into what, in the end, they really are: bodies made up of geometric shapes, lines, textures and volumes. Marc assumes that process with an absolute fluidity, almost intuitively. In his photographs it is often possible to notice it, discovering how he takes as a departing point all those tangible and perfectly recognizable elements, to initiate a process of reinterpretation that decontextualizes them. In the interim, they end up losing their daily essence to become something that moves away from the prefigured reality, something that forces us to look at them with different eyes.

The referent; that is, the starting point of this process can be quite varied: Sometimes it is an architectural form, others a waterscape, perhaps a flowery field or, merely, the horizon line. But the common denominator in these cases is that the transition is always extremely touching. To deconstruct those elements of the everyday reality, Marc uses with mastery, varied photographic techniques: sometimes he may play with the depth of field, thereby distorting the perception of objects that would otherwise be even trivial. Other times he choosesthe light or creative blurring to get some fantastic ‘bokeh’. But also, anintense approach to the object through macro photography may be the perfect means to isolate it from its surroundings and insert it into the interpretive dimension presupposed by abstract photography. It is in these photographs in which he attempts on many occasions to associate the captured objects to recognizable geometrical shapes. I think it takes a huge visual talent to make us play that game …

In the composition of his photographs, Marc deliberately moves away from the rule of thirds, choosing often to divide the frame in two perfect halves by an edge,or a linear element. This transforms many of his pictures into the expression of an interplay of dualities: a dialogue between opposites: light vs shadow, focused vs unfocused textures, color vs monochrome… Does he want to create a certain visual tension in the viewer? Perhaps, but there is no doubt that this is a resource of great plastic beauty. Probably, of all his magnificent photographs, those which form his series ‚Lines‘ constitute the best example of it. In almost all of them, the color helps to enhance the exposed duality, sometimes creating it directly, other times nuancing it through subtle variations or tone gradations. In the end, the majority of these pictures compose a fascinating sort of landscape in which that new horizon is the conductor element that agglutinates sky, land and water around, to give way to a new world in the observer’s eye. The excellence of the images that make up ‚Lines‘ has led them to be exhibited in the A Gallery -in Berlin Mitte-, where they were exposed in a large format, up to 180 cm. You only have to look for a moment at some of these great pictures to imagine the visual impact it must cause to admire them in that format.

Even in those occasions when it seems that his photography is clearly figurative, just a glance is enough to realize that this landscape, the monument that stands out in the light, the long shadow of the photographer or even that little girl that looks enraptured at the flight of the thousand leaves are mere pretexts to take us to a different level of reality. I’ve the feeling that it was not that, the most apparent, which interested Marc at the time of shooting, but the translation of these images to lines, lights, volumes … that is to say, the potentially abstract facet of these explicit fragments of reality.

Marc shoots with a Nikon D800, in which usually mounts a 28-300mm zoom (as his all-purpose lens). No doubt that this is a heavy burden, but Marc tells me that, even so, he always carries it with him, even in his daily bike tours. His other -fixed focal- lenses are: 50mm/f1.4, 85mm/f1.6 and a 105/2.8 for micro photography. As someone once said, It is not the equipment that you may carry that makes you a photographer, but there is no doubt that in the hands of Marc they become instruments of his fantastic expressiveness.

-Juan Manuel
Link to Photographers in Focus: Marc Oliver Grad     Photographers in Focus

Your photography is stunning. It covers such a breadth of vision and experience. It’s a unique way of seeing that is quite interesting to me. I’m glad I wandered upon your blog.

samuel archer

 loved your „streetlines (the look)“. It’s sooooo impressive! Cheers from the US,

-Rita

So glad I found your tumblr. I’ve really been enjoying your experimental reflection photos. And of course, your wheat/cornflower series is amazing! So glad you’re getting recognition for it.

Best regards,
Mike W.

I see your mind take the simplest ideas and forms, and turn them into beautiful art. I become quiet and begin to wonder; What I am doing here. – Taylor-

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