JANE SYDNEY ABSTRACT PHOTOGRAPHY

Abstract images challenge one's eye, one's imagination and one's creativity. Most of my abstract pieces are the actual photographs I have taken -- playful and colorful, these images conjure something concrete from the abstract. Paint chips often become abstract paintings as in starry night -- a detail from an antique fire engine. A shakey hand when snapping an image and the occasional use of digital tools also create abstract images from the ordinary while sometimes it is just the play of light and shadow. Abstract images make us look deeper, take more time to discover.

JANE SYDNEY DESERT AND DUNES PHOTOGRAPHY

Deserts have a sense of space and of solitude. There one finds extremes -- in temperature -- in light -- in contrast -- in texture. The dunes of these deserts are not static -- they change each time I photograph them. The color of the dunes is dependant upon which desert they inhabit -- from golden sand, to stark white, to coral pink. Their texture is different and because of that the light plays on them in varying contrasts. The dunes have a texture in their composition as well as in their shape. Each desert creates its own story in its dunes. They are all formed from the stone of the surrounding mountains whipped by winds and depositing their residue on a flat dry space which over the millenia form the dunes. From dawn to dusk the dunes tell their story in light and shadow.

The Imperial Sand Dunes of Southern California are immense -- that is the only way to describe them. Jane Sydney's photographs of these dunescapes hardly begin to capture the vastness of this landscape. The Imperial Sand DUnes are a 50 mile long space with desert on one side and the green of the Imperial Valley farms on the other -- made green by the water in the aquafer of this part of California. The Imperial Dunes are best visited on a dune buggy and it would easy to become lost amid the sand. As with other dunescapes of Jane Syndey, the shades and shapes created by the wind and dawn light impart a peacefulness and a stillness which is palpable.

JANE SYDNEY DOOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Doors are the entrance and the exit -- the to and from a place. In photographing doors i look for the personal, for something unusual which will tell the viewer about the place -- about who might live there, or work there, It is a city door covered with graffitti, a country door with a hay rake, a door to a factory. The door is the story, but imagination can take one behind the door to envision a life lived therein.

JANE SYDNEY KALIEDOGRAPHS PHOTOGRAPHY

Nature holds many surprises from colors that seem unreal to shapes that are otherworldly. I have taken my photographs of flowers and plants and, through the use of digital technology, have transformed them into a different dimension from their original form. I call this kaliedography because the original image is taken apart and put together in a fashion which mimics what one sees in a kaliedoscope -- an illusion which is colorful, symmetrical and implies movement from the original form. Each image is an original -- a one of a kind -- so when sold, it is not duplicated. Another kaliedograph can be created from the original flower, which will also be an original.

JANE SYDNEY NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

The images herein are portraits of nature. They show close-up photographs of flowers in all their brilliant color and amazing texture. Colorful gardens with their spring and summer blooms bring those seasons to life. The fiddlehead portraits are something special to northern New England. Each one has a personality in its unfurling which is only seen during a few short weeks in the spring.

JANE SYDNEY PLACES PHOTOGRAPHY

It would take too many words to describe each place shown here -- and words are not what this site is about. It is about the photographs and the stories they tell. Each place has its own personality. I find myself drawn to the solitary, the textural and find intriguing the contrast between light and dark, between the known and the unknown. The places included here are: JANE SYDNEY CALIFORNIA PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY EUROPE PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY GHOST TOWN PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY MONO LAKE CA PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY NEVADA PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY NEW HAMPSHIRE PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY NEW MEXICO PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY NEW YORK CITY PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY PARIS PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY TRENTON NJ PHOTOGRAPHY: JANE SYDNEY UTAH PHOTOGRAPHY.

The photographs taken by Jane Sydney of the Salton Sea in California reflect the decline of the area which had once been a thriving resort getaway for people from Los Angeles. The remnants of the 1950's architecture can be seen in the now vacant North Shore Boat Club and Marina. The beaches which are still in existence are run down and surrounded by delapidated buildings -- also vacant -- and in many instances encrusted with salt residue. The Salton Sea is more salinated than any ocean and has no fresh water supply. it is therefore drying up, little by little, and killing any semblance of community life -- both for people as well as wildlife.

Slab City is a story out of time past. Jane Sydney's photographs of Slab City show the way people who are regular winter squatters live -- their homes -- how they decorate their property -- their public buildings such as they are. Despite the rundown appearance, and in some cases, downright trashed abodes, the people who come here to squat for the winter have been doing so for years and years. The property is not privately owned and there is marginal electricity and not much fresh water. Slab City got its name from the slabs of concrete left when the barracks of this former army training center were torn down. In the 1950's peole began to congregate on the property since it is desert terrain and very warm in the winter. Slab City affords its residents a sense of community lived their way.

Salvation Mountain is adjacent to Slab City and has been erected by one Leonard Night -- of indeterminate age since he has been building this project for the past 25 years. Jane Sydney's photographs of Leonard's creation show the immensity of the project as well as the incredible attention Leonard has paid to the details of each space. He has constructed Salvation Mountain from found objects taken from the surrounding desert along with the kindness of strangers who show up at his mountain on a daily basis. He has been in movies and gladly hands out a video someone made about his life. Again, another person living his alternative life style his way.

JANE SYDNEY RANDOM PHOTOGRAPHY

Random means a lack of order, of a lack of predictibility. I have divided this section into two parts -- signs and very random. The signs are of places in this country which are a throwback to an era where people stayed and ate in local establishments. These are fast disappearing in favor of the "chains". These signs are part of the american story which has not yet been replaced -- fortunately! The very random section is just that -- the unpredictable image with a sense of balance, color and texture. But most of all of intrigue.

JANE SYDNEY SEASONS PHOTOGRAPHY

This could also be considered nature or landscape photography. I have chosen to entitle it seasons because I have included shots from New England during its wonderful three seasons. I say three because spring is mostly a fleeting season here while summer, fall and winter are strong seasons which generate images rich in color and texture and which tell the story of New England.