Tag Archives: Armenia

MatericLook: Warm¿ - Armenia Photography and art

An image from Yerevan, Armenia. It depicts a beautiful sculpture from Yue Minjun, a contemporary artist from China. The work is named “Untitled”, as some of his others… he works mainly with oil colors and his recognizable characters can be found in sculptures, design items, watercolors, prints…
Yue Minjun works are strong, the smiling faces are masks, hiding the contemporary man’s true self. They’re a critique towards today society. Apart from Armenia, you can find his works in galleries or public places in Canada, US, Europe and of course China and Korea.
The shot was taken rotating a bit the frame, to give more strength to the facial expression on the statue. In post-production a bit more contrast, to highlight the traits and wrinkles of the exaggerated expression. And a bit more of the reflected colors, intensifying the chrome-like look. Cold blue from the sky in the upper left corner and warm yellow/brown  from the floor stones.
Photography

Yue Minjun sculpture in Yerevan – Armenia photos and art

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MatericLook: Amaghu Valley by Francesco Perratone, Armenia Photography and art

A work from the Armenia Photography series, a sunset view of the beautiful Amaghu Valley, where Noravank Monastery sits.

The valley is named after the river Amaghu, in some places it’s narrow, becoming a real canyon. Located in the Vayots Dzor region, is not far from the city of Yeghegdnazor.

The valley’s peculiar features (apart from the fascinating Noravank Monastery) are its cliffs, whose bright red rocks emerge on their sides. The drive to the monastery is nice and pleasant. This particular view comes from the bottom of the valley, before starting the short climb to the religious building.

For this image I used first of all the usual techniques, like HDR, multiple exposures and a small bit of digital painting. Then I started experimenting a bit…

I intensified the light/shadow contrast by using harmonious curves, with a “rhythm” similar to those extrapolated from classic sculpture. Finally I combined the dark and light areas with the existing luminance details, before applying them to the work.

I would say the results aren’t bad. In this particular image I followed the pre-existing land profiles. As a result the influenced areas are fitting nicely without a strong distinction.

I’d like to do more experiments in this direction, probably with other kind of images, more abstract, where the contrast can be stronger.

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As (almost) all my works, this is available as a print on large canvas (limited) or cotton paper (signed). If interested you can take a look at the shop. If it’s not available yet you can contact me directly.

Here are some free works for download as wallpapers and some animations to watch.

If you like this or other of my works, please consider supporting me on Patreon with 1$/month. You will receive exclusive works and participate to the creative process!

Thank you!

Digital Art, Photography

Armenia Photography & Art – Amaghu Valley

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MatericLook: PouringLights_00 by Francesco Perratone, Armenia Photography and art

 

This is a shot from Geghard Monastery in Armenia. This is the dome, seen from inside one of the churches constituting the complex.

The place is really nice and fascinating. The spear that wounded Christ was allegedly brought here by apsotle Thaddeus (currently stored in Echmiadzin). I will publish some works form the outside too 😉

The sculpted details geometry is complex and beautiful, I maniipulated the image a lot because I wanted to bring in some colors and give everything a painted and surreal look.

The light, coming from the top, is like a colored fluid, pouring in, bringing a vibrant life to the structure below. This is an aspect I wanted to highlight. So I worked on making the shadows more uniform and on giving the corners a “liquid” look. I kept the top area overexposed and saturated, but I gave it a watercolor and stained look. Also some of the lower decorations now look like drops by themselves!

 

As all my works, this is available as a limited print on canvas or cotton paper, if interested you can contact me.

Here are some free works for download as wallpapers and some animations to watch.

If you like this or other of my works, please consider supporting me on Patreon with 1$/month, you will receive exclusive works and you will be able to participate to the creative process!

Thank you!

 

Digital Art, Photography

Armenia Photography – PouringLights_00

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MatericLook: Noravank Cupola 0 Wallpaper by Francesco Perratone, Armenia Photography Urbex and art

From Noravank Monastery in Armenia. This, unwatermarked and in high resolution, will be available to my $3 patrons as August wallpaper.

Resolutions available are the same listed for free wallpapers (4:3, 16:9, 3:2).

More images to come, showing the monastery surroundings!

Photography, wallpaper

Armenia Photography – Noravank Monastery

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MatericLook: Watched 0 by Francesco Perratone, Armenia Photography Urbex and art

Hello everyone, back from my trip to Armenia, here’s a first related work.

A large abandoned soviet-era building in Jermuk, with a nice sculpture on the facade. It caught my attention, so I took a few steps inside.

At first it didn’t seem particularly interesting. Almost empty, with a relatively modern structure… but after reaching the middle of the ground floor the view is just great!

On both sides there are these very interesting statues, with series of 6 very large heads. A few of them have some lipstick or mustaches added by some “joking thug”.

The impression is definitely surreal. The grandeur of the building and the imposing visages offer a stark contrast from the crumbling stairs and flaking paint. The temperature adds to the feeling: it dropped at least 10 degrees upon entering the building. The cold suggests being inside a giant refrigerator fighting to freeze time, surrounded by a very warm  sun, overheating everything else.

THE BUILDING

From the few information I was able to gather, it seems the building was indeed built during the soviet era by USSR government. The faces inside represent Armenian heroes and fighters for freedom.

If anyone can provide more info regarding the building and/or the faces, I’ll be happy to include them. The construction is currently undergoing some kind of renovation, as there are some construciotn materials outside, so it will probably not last long in the current state.

THE WORK

Also here I want to stay on the edge between a picture and a drawing/painting. I made the flaking paint very visible, but the colors brilliant and saturated, to remind the life that was once here.

I focused on the faces and the geometric structure behind, making them stand out a bit. Also wanted to keep the darkest areas not completely black, but suggesting that something’s there.

I then experimented something: In these dark areas I created a look somewhat similar to stains and saturated watercolors, to further the distance from a photographic look. I also used some black fading strokes to highlight details, on both the faces and the structure. You can better appreciate those touches in the details shown below (half of the final work resolution):

MatericLook: Watched 0 -detail0 by Francesco Perratone, Armenia Photography Urbex and art

MatericLook: Watched 0 -detail1 by Francesco Perratone, Armenia Photography Urbex and art

 

If you like this or other of my works, please consider supporting me on Patreon with 1$/month. By doing so you’ll be able to participate to the creative process and suggest the kind of works you like the most! Thank you

Digital Art, Photography, urbex

Armenia Photography & Urbex – Watched 0

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