Lisa Hering, Impressionistic Photographer
HAVASUPAI FALLS by Lisa Hering
Lisa Hering
You might have to look twice next time you walk past one of southwest photographer and graphic artist Lisa Hering’s images. There’s something very odd going on there. Is it a photograph or is it a painting? Or is it a photograph of a painting? Just exactly what is it?
It’s definitely a photograph, but it appears to be oil or water color, or some other medium type. Graphic artists know the abilities to edit digitally go way beyond the capabilities of the camera, but Hering’s art doesn’t take us into the future. Hering takes us into the past. How?
Hering says that her artwork is about color and finding the best light. “I took a photograph of Wilson Mountain from Forest Road when the light was perfect, a one in a million shot. Only problem was, the setting was not perfect.” After digitally removing the street, the RVs, the jeeps and the mail boxes, Hering was ready to begin making the scene appear as though it was an old oil painting. By overlaying dozens of filters, Hering transformed the modern street scene into an image one would expect to see in a Lewis and Clark or Powell expedition historical account (view “Wilson Mountain” by clicking on the first thumbnail below).
“One of my favorite methods is to swirl the colors around, like oil colors floating on water. It makes it look very Van Gogh, yet different. I am into Impressionism and simplicity. Time becomes relative when I am working on art. I am somewhere else. I am in the picture.”
“There are no two photographs that have the same process applied to them. Each one is a unique combination, from literally doing almost nothing to the point where it looks like contemporary art, and everything in between. There is so much hand manipulation that in some cases it’s a true painting except that the paint was already on the canvas and I just moved it around.”
Hering has been published by the Four Corners Journal, has exhibited at the Sedona Arts Center and Jerona in Cottonwood. Her work has sold at Enchantment Resort and most recently at the new “Treasure Quest” across from Tlaquepaque.
Fine art prints of Lisa’s extraordinary photos can be purchased by clicking here. She can be reached at 928-821-0687.
She describes her journey to Sedona in her newest book entitled “To Sedona”, 120 pages published on demand by blurb.com. It’s part biography, part philosophy, part guided tour, and contains over eighty of her photographs taken over the last ten years.
