Fire Abstracts

• Prize
• Photographer
  Daniel Munteanu, Romania
• Studio
  Moondash
• Socials
• Website
  http://www.moondash.net

I attempted to use intentional camera movement technique (ICM) to achieve
true impressionist photography at a level seldom reached in the past and also
addressing subjects very difficult to handle in this manner. The resulting
imagery strives for the perfection and harmony of the lines when painting with
the digital sensor.

Fire, as a primordial element, can give rise to shapes both surreal and
abstract. Through further enhancing of the colors, I tried to give the
impression of sculptures of smoke.

One of the defining things that place a photograph as being an artefact
depicting a slice of reality, a copy of reality in a way, is the clarity of the lines
and all the details that resemble the thing actually photographed. I wanted
something different but sincerely straight from the camera. Something that
looks like fantasy but is no Photoshop trick.

• Biography
  Daniel Munteanu’s photography moves the focus of photography from capturing images of this reality to creating photographs of different worlds and styles. Having a background in literature and computer graphics, Munteanu always mutates photography from the real to the fantastical, from the 'what is' to the 'what it can become' through imagination. The artist is known for developing carefully staged images in the studio and outdoors, inventing the image instead of using the ready-made, crafting a photograph that depicts reality in an unreal or surreal way.
• Awards
  Bronze in Fine Art/Abstract, Prix de la Photographie, Paris 2018 Bronze in Portfolio/Portfolio Fine Art at Moscow Foto Awards 2018 Urban Photo Awards 2018 – Finalist (6 images selected) 2 Honorable mentions at the Pollux Gala Awards, (fine art category & portrait) 2 Honorable mentions at Fine Art Photo Awards, 4th edition, 2018 (abstract, fine art) 5 Honorable mentions at Tokyo Photo Awards, 2018, (fine art book, other, abstract), 2018 Work selected for ‘Water’ competition/exhibition, London Photo Fest 2018 Third place in Fine Art, Self-Published Book, at International Photography Awards 2012 Honorable Mention at Prix de la Photographie, Paris 2012 Honorable Mention at Color Color Color (Worldwide Photography Gala Awards) 2011 Honorable Mention at Chicago Photo Forum Spring Contest 2010 Honorable Mention at International Photography Awards 2010 Two honorable mentions at Prix de la Photographie, Paris 2010 Honorable Mention in Double Exposure Digital Imaging Competition 2009 1st Place in the Nature-Trees Category and 2nd Place in the Nature-Still Life Category at Prix de la Photographie, Paris 2009 One nominee at International Color Master Awards 2009 Two honorable mentions at the International Photography Awards 2008