A view of Las Vegas through the Desert This is Photo Art, the manipulation of Photos into art. The title of this piece is "Highway to Las Vegas". Consisting of 9 separate photo's, it embraces the beauty and spendor that is the Derert, while at the same time being an art of Contrasts; Night & Day, Young & Old, Life & Death, Truth & Fiction.


One Never Knows What They May Find On The Road To Vegas

 

The "Highway to Las Vegas" started purely by accident. I was simply goofing around with some concepts for Hot Rods when I saw this picture amidst a pile of junk cars. I was looking for something from an Oldsmobile, a fender if I remember right, when I honestly got a good look at this old Pontiac. From there I started removing all the other cars and replacing them with bits and pieces of Desert, often literally one bush at a time. When it was finally just Desert and this old Pontiac, I began building the Photo Art Picture. First I added Las Vegas into the Mountain Range, that was almost a weeks work in of itself. Next was the Highway, the curve had to be hand drawn as I was still on crutches at the time and unable to walk far enough to get a good picture of the curve I wanted. Then finally came the girl, I chose one of Blossom's many photos as it seemed to fit perfect, although actually quite in contrast if you truly know what you are looking at. To Blossom I added the hat and the boot. Yes I said boot, as in singular, I lost the other boot in my move to Nevada and had to make one boot appear as both right and left boot. The Backpack, Canteen and Pick were then added for effect. Anyone that knows Nevada well knows that it is famous for gold prospectors. Thus this Photo Art is a twist on the old clashy piece of an old prospector sitting in the shade after another day of never finding anything. Couldn't resist.
 
Someone once asked me why I take so many useless pictures, that threw me for a moment, sometimes we have to sleep on things to better answer. I think they were looking at a photograph as a work of art, which it certainly can be, but to me it is more like a bucket of paint, it is something to work with, and something I may use a little of and never use the rest. This piece of Photo Art is a perfect example of such. They were just that, a bunch of junk pictures. I had no ideal that picture was ever going to exist when I took them originally. The Pontiac was just part of an interesting pile of junk. Like wise the picture of Blossom had no intention when taken. In fact that particular picture wasn't even in context with the shoot I was doing. The shoot was of her acting as a mechanic, but the garage had a slight chill to it that day, and in the middle of the shoot she sat up and hugged herself to warm up for the moment. So why did I take that picture, there was no reason, but it ended up making a great piece of paint. I never know what I am going to need or when I might need it, I only know what I don't have when I do need it, so it's better to take a lot of pictures, as to make less of those times.
A picture of junk cars
A picture of a girl shivering

Program: Arcsoft Photo Studio
Cammera: Kodak DC50
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