Nicholas Pompeo

When I first learned Photoshop as I was figuring out what I wanted to do with my life, it opened my eyes to the possibilities of what you can do with photos. I started to find more and more artists to look up to and more ways to take and edit photos. It constantly amazes me the things I can create with multiple/long exposures or other camera tricks, photoshop or just using perspective effectively. I enjoy having an idea for a piece of art that at the beginning looks normal or bland and turning it into something eye catching and completely unexpected. Using the programs to blend light, shapes, and colors to make multiple images or subjects appear as one unified image. It feels like a puzzle to me that challenges my problem solving skills while allowing me to fully express myself and whatever ideas I may come up with.

Most of my ideas for photos end up ranging between two extremes, either dark, creepy art or pieces with bright colors featuring space, fire, or neon lights. The dark art side comes from my depression and life-long love for metal, gothic/punk and creepy art. While the brighter side of my art all stems from how much I enjoy the aesthetics and fantastical elements that can be extremely eyecatching and hold someones gaze. No matter which style, my main goal is to make a piece of art that hopefully will make the viewer wonder how it is even made. To make them question how it is possible to capture an event such as sparks in flight or a chair floating in mid air. In the end, I always strive to make my pieces a part of myself. Whether that means I have to be the one doing something dangerous involving fire or I use my face for the photo edit. I don’t have to be the subject every time, but I feel more comfortable doing whatever I want to my own face or involving my safety than to ask someone else for the permission for it.

I’m constantly looking for more photographers and artists that do art in my same style that I can look to for ideas or help when I don’t know how to finish a piece. Murat Akyol is one artist where no matter where I look I usually end up seeing one of his more well received pieces. The way he blends the different photos together to create surrealistic or fantastical pieces gives me a level of art to strive for. I don’t want to be a carbon copy of his but the level of amazement he gets from his viewers is something I want as well. He may not be pushing any political boundaries with his art but the way he can captivate a viewer with a purely aesthetic piece is exactly how I want my art to be. In the end, I want my art to be a visual escape for whoever views it. To forget about bigger, real world issues and to be captivated in my art, even for a few minutes.