Photographed in the months following my mother's death, this series visually deviates from the airy nature in much of my work. Standing in a forest can feel lonely. The light seems far away and shadows engross you, if you allow them. It's easy to become entangled in the detail of the shadows and even easier to descend deeper into them, making surreal the reality around you.
In these times I always remind myself to stay grounded. This series is a message to myself, don’t fall.
I translated this notion photographically by allowing the lens to physically fall over the period of a long exposure, as if out of control, yet at the same time guided by the constraints of the camera design.
Samuel Edward Burns
Born Sydney, Australia 1979
Samuel Edward Burns is an artist working in the photographic medium. Primarily self taught, he chooses to shoot on traditional film based large format 4x5 and panoramic cameras which offer a slow contemplative method towards his photography.
Initially drawn to landscape photography for its contemplative nature, he travelled extensively around Australia and North America on solo journeys, allowing him to delve into the emotion of place and time.
His work has developed into an exploration of conceptual ideas and an underlying urge to portray human emotions whilst also staying close to his love of the introspective nature the landscape allows.
Sam currently resides in Sydney as a commercial photographer specialising in location and architectural photography.
