Taking the AWAKE world by storm from her very first appearance, Siegart von Schlichting of Germany has produced masterwork after masterwork this past year, becoming the featured artist of Issue No. 17 of Living the Photo Artistic Life …
Q: What does it mean to you to live the life of an artist?
Siegart: In my professional life completely outside of photography I have a lot to do with numbers, sales figures, Excel charts, and paperwork. As you can imagine, this usually pretty dry stuff.
Being an artist means being able to play and to experiment with colors, forms, light. And it means being able to learn constantly. Through my photography and art, I learn something new practically every day. About light, about composition. About Photoshop techniques. This is wonderful and exciting. I simply love it!
In a way through my art I can be a child again. There is so much to discover, so much to express. Many things appear that are new to me and take me by surprise — crazy ideas, sophisticated ideas, erotic aspects, dramatic and dark aspects of living. All these things and more show up in the creative photographical process.
Q: Can you tell us more about this newly emerging artistic career you are building?
Siegart: All my life I wanted to paint, but I wasn’t talented enough, or maybe not patient enough. Photography and Photoshop (with all its possibilities) are giving me the opportunity to be an artist.
I love to take pictures and to work on them. I started with flowers and blossoms. Beautiful flowers, magical charming motives, beautiful colors and shapes. I loved the composition of light and shadow, the in and out of focus. Later I discovered people photography, especially with female models.
I have made many portraits. And I’ve discovered Photoshop. From these, a wonderful new world of possibilities for picture composition opened to me. I love to photograph people and to make portraits. I want to show the mystery and beauty that lies in everyone. I’ve tried new approaches with unusual styling and settings. But my intention always was to express beauty, grace, and passion.
Then I discovered Photoshop Artistry, which expanded my view on photography in a way that I had never imagined before. The possibility to play with backgrounds and textures, the accommodation of different additional elements in a photo. Suddenly I was able to create new worlds in and around my photos.
I constantly ask myself if a certain element, a certain background, a change of color or whatever, enhances the photo or not. It is a learning process in assessing how many additional elements are good for a certain picture. What gives the photo something new. What lifts it up. And what is too much.
As an artist, I see myself on the path … Sometimes I do not feel creative enough, and when I am not satisfied with a picture, I have to take care not to break down in self-doubt. Sometimes none of my photos inspire me any more. In these darker moments it is best to do nothing, maybe watch a video of another artist that inspires me. But I’ve learned that these are only passing phases. Sometimes nothing seems to work. Then I have to wait. Go outside, maintain my garden, visit friends. Suddenly this phase is over, clouds have disappeared, and the sun finally comes through again.
Q: Besides the excitement in taking great photos and working in Photoshop, what would you say most inspires your artwork (or you as an artist)?
Siegart: I love life. The world of flowers, animals, and people. Laughter and tears. Darkness and light. Colors and shapes. The variety of life itself inspires me.
Another more tangible source of inspiration would be other artists I admire. Especially great photographers and images that I discover on Pinterest, Facebook, or 500px. I also love to visit the workshops of photographers who impress me with their unique style. I am so curious to see how they work with light, how much effort they devote to a photo so that it becomes unique. Witnessing this process in other photographers and artists greatly inspires me.
Q: What does it mean to you to “Live the Photo Artistic Life”?
To me, it means figuring out what MY art really is. What is “my” style, my specific way to create an image?
I was very surprised when people first told me that they saw a unique style in my photos. I hadn’t noticed that the thing I was searching for, had already happened.
A photo artistic life also means to constantly pursue the question of what it is that wants to express itself through me. There are so many incredibly wonderful photographers and artists in the world right now. For me they are a source of inspiration on the one hand, but also a strong challenge on the other. I can be distracted and discouraged because they know much more than I do, but I can also learn from them and let myself be pushed forward into new grounds.