This week we are sharing work submitted to Lenscratch…

Suspended

Photographer Keith Sharp works with natural environments to construct new surrealistic realities within them by bringing the outside in or the inside out. Sharp’s process makes me do a double take when viewing the imagery. I find his work to be intriguing because I am also interested in photographing the overlap between natural and man-made worlds.

Keith Sharp is a photographer based in Media, PA. Solo exhibitions include: Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA; The Arts Club of Washington, Washington, DC; The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE; Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA; US Botanical Gardens, Washington, DC; and FotoFest, Houston, TX. His work was included in various group shows, including: Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE; and the Robin Rice Gallery, New York, NY. Collections include the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA; West Collection at SEI Investments Company, Oaks, PA; and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Radnor, PA.

Fabrications

Ever since I was a little boy, I have always had a love of nature – camping, gardening, plants, walking in parks, and just being outdoors. For many years now, I have been creating photographs of props that I have placed in real scenes – either outdoors in natural settings or by bringing the natural world inside. Sometimes the props have been something prefabricated, while other times it has been props that I have created. In this current series, I began to experiment with printing images of natural scenes, plants, and other items on to cotton and silk that I then sewed, staged, and re-photographed to create digital photographic collages or sewed the printed fabric into soft sculptures.  A surrealist at heart, I attempt to create mysterious and subtle images that cause the viewer to do a double take. We all play a part in fabricating the world around us. There will always be two worlds – the natural and the manmade.

Beyond

Daylight

Transposed

Sunset

Curtain Call

Raise the Curtain

Stitched

Barrier

Inside Out

Ground Cover

Flower Bed

Prickly Pear Cactus

Bromeliad

Still Life with Apples and Pears