This website serves as an outlet for my work and allows me to share it with you. I will try to keep it up to date as much as possible. If you would like to hire me or see my rates, please check my rates page. Since you've decided to take the time to read about me, let me explain my art to you. We live in an ever-changing world. How often have you driven down the road, seen something, and said "Wow, that's gorgeous!" only to have it torn down and built up a few months later? Even in the natural world, this occurs. Just two years ago, I was in Arches National Park. My friend and I posed underneath one of the arches to show that we'd actually been there and had a good time. Just recently, I read in the news that that very arch collapsed and crumbled to the ground. All that's left of it are photographs. Similar examples can be seen in the works of 19th century photographers such as William Henry Jackson. He was one of the first photographers to explore the American West. He was truly able to see untouched beauty. Though the most of the places he photographed still look similar, it's impossible now to see them without signs of man, be it a road, dirt path, a sign, or a fence. Even if there are no immediate signs, look around. Way out in the desert or in the middle of a forest, one can always look up and see a contrail from a jet or a trail made by man. How lucky were these people to see such untouched wonder? This is not to say, however, that I only wish to forever capture an untouched landscape. Even our cities are constantly changing. Buildings are constantly being built and old ones fall into ruin or are torn down. Imagine famous pictures of buildings from turn-of-the-century New York City and how proud they were of buildings like the Flatiron building. It seems wise to capture today's pride upon which future generations can look back. This brings another problem: our memories are fleeting. One can go visit these places and see it, but our memories change and fade. I have always had a wanderlust and love seeing the natural things that this world has to offer, but if I’m going to forget the things I have seen, what’s the point? My photographs give me the opportunity to forever spark a fading memory back into existence. Just as we remember something with a particular bias, be it happy or sad, my photography is likewise idealized to represent the subject matter in the way I would like to remember it, not necessarily the way it was.
Likewise, tourists in countless different places have done simple cityscapes. What differentiates artistic photography from a simple snapshot, however, is the connection a photographer has with the subject. By becoming familiar with a scene, I am able to capture it at its most beautiful moment. Photographers are known to frequent a spot hundreds of times before they truly capture the image they desire. The weather is unpredictable, but we know what we want to see! It's just a matter of patience in waiting for it. I also enjoy showing a sense of scale in my imagery. We're such tiny creatures in such a large place. It's fun to show the viewer just how big and magnificent some of these subjects are. Without showing something like people on the bow of a boat in front of a glacier or my own shadow cast from a cliff, grasping the magnitude of an object or scene could otherwise be very difficult. Finally, when looking at my work, please don't worry about how a photograph was created. Yes, tools like Adobe Photoshop are used on them, but mainly for color, cropping, and contrast adjustment. On occasion, however, it may be necessary to remove a distraction from an image so that the image can match my mind's image. Art is about the message, so who cares how you did it? Would you really ask a painter what brand paint he uses or criticize him for painting over a misplaced stroke? My photographs are specifically crafted to portray to you, the viewer, how I saw the scene when I was there. Yes a sign or fence may be brushed out of it, but when you remember seeing a waterfall, do you really picture the fence in the way too? |
As you can tell from my website, my name is Patrick Morris. Thank you for taking the time to find out more about me. I have a BFA in Photography from the University of North Florida. Though I travel at every given opportunity, I still call Jacksonville, Florida, my home. 
It would be very easy to confuse travel and landscape photography with snapshot photography. So many natural wonders have been photographed by millions of people, thus making it difficult to create any unique landscape photographs.