About Andrea B. Stone

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

About the Work

The great Elliott Erwitt once remarked that “photography is an art of observation. It is about finding something interesting in an ordinary place...I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Andrea B. Stone’s work brilliantly encapsulates this perspective on the essence of photography. Where painting, architecture, and photography intersect, the artist discovers moments of beauty in our everyday lives. It is only when we study her poetic cityscapes that their true subject is revealed; as we re-examine the pictures, the geometric structures and patterns merge back into their original forms. We begin to recognize the light-filled streets, and we start to make out individual details in the reflective surfaces of the skyscrapers.

Inspired by impressionism, Stone atmospherically connects facades, reflections, and cityscapes in her impressive work. With meticulous composition, and by using coloured accents, the artist creates works that remain in our memory. Stone’s photographs do not just temporarily shift our perspective, they invite us to see the painterly aspects of the architecture we encounter in our daily lives.

About the Artist

A 2011 visit to Portland, Oregon inspired Andrea B. Stone to take these incredibly detailed photographs of reflections on buildings. What began with a few downtown photographs has maintained a powerful grip on Stone – she continues to produce her “City Reflections”. New York, Seattle, and Chicago have also been featured in these remarkable compositions.

VITA

Andrea B. Stone is a Washington based artist who is an internationally recognized photographer known for her striking and abstracted images of modern architecture. Her work occupies a refreshing, yet sophisticated space in the photography field. A photographer for over thirty years, Stone’s work has appeared in galleries, competitions, national and international publications. 

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2014	The City Reflections Project, Gallery 1855, Davis, California, USA

Group Exhibitions

2015	International Juried Portfolio Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, California, USA
2014	Abstract Expressionists, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
	Mixed Media Group Show, The Artery, Davis, California, USA
2012	International Architecture Festival, Modesto, California, USA
	Annual Member’s Show, Viewpoint
2009	Photographic Art Center, Sacramento, California, USA
	Twelve: Play of Light, Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Sacramento, California, USA

INTERVIEW

What am I looking at?

I create interpretive photographs that either highlight a graphic detail of a building or capture a distorted reflection of surrounding architecture.

Is this a painting?

My photographs exist at the crossroads of photography and painting. This is due partly to their abstract quality and partly to the way I develop them to produce a formal portrait of the building.

What is this a photograph of?

What you see is either a section of a building or a reflective surface of a building or sculpture.

How did you do this?

I research my subjects as thoroughly as I can. Sometimes I’m fortunate enough to stumble upon an extraordinary building I hadn’t planned to shoot. I then focus on the part of the structure that, to me, conveys the essence of the architecture. I photograph it repeatedly and develop it in a way that matches the vision I had at the moment of capture.

What type of camera do you use?

I work exclusively with the Phase One IQ3, a medium format digital camera.

Do you print your own work?

All of our work at Stone Photography is printed in our production studio. We can print up to 42” x 70+”.

Is this a composite photograph?

No, I don’t create composite images. Each photograph represents a single surface.

Did you know what this would look like when you shot it?

Most of the time, yes — I already have a vision of what the final image will look like.

How long does this take?

Capturing the image may take days, while the development process can range from forty to several hundred hours.

How do you have the patience?

Getting it right is simply in my DNA!

How did you get started?

It began in the mid-1990s when I saw Monet’s The Magpie at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. A creative channel opened inside me, which eventually led me to photography as my medium of artistic expression.

How did you get this idea?

In 2011, during a trip to Portland, Oregon, I noticed reflections in downtown windows that appeared like abstract cityscapes. As I began photographing, it became clear that I was seeing differently. After downloading my images that very first day, I realized I had embarked on an original project.