I have a particular fascination for small details, for lost, abandoned, broken objects and derelict places, which I find almost unbearably poignant, and for darkness contrasting with light, in both the visual and emotional sense – what lies in those shadows, unseen, hidden; which unspoken feelings? I seek out mundane subjects which lack obvious visual appeal or might be considered traditionally unlovely – if it is ‘ordinary’, it’s interesting to me.
Many of my illustrative images evolve intuitively as I am working on them in Photoshop; I may begin with a quite straightforward idea of what I want to achieve but am always willing to venture wherever the photograph guides me to go, as I overlay multiple images together or add textures (from my extensive collection shot over many years) perhaps using scanned vintage documents as additional layers.
Two photographs can blend together in a way that I could not have previously imagined, a technique I find so exciting and all-consuming when I work, ultimately producing a final image which is different or removed from reality, aiming to evoke curiosity and emotion in the viewer and make them question their sense of the world.
A self-taught photographer, I hold two FRPS distinctions in Visual Art (2014) and Contemporary (2024), plus Fellowship of the Irish Photographic Federation (2021).
Viveca Koh FRPS FIPF
www.vivecakohphotography.com
@vivecakohphotog
