Leominster’s Dana Lane: Combining Art and Business
Monday, August 26, 2013
Dana Lane simultaneously makes photography an art and a business.
Leominster's Dana Lane is a local photographer with a plethora of different talents and a range of desires. His subjects are many and with each different photograph, he seeks to accomplish completely separate goals depending on the unique challenges each different subject presents. His photographs range from wedding, family and individual portraits to artistic nudes, inanimate objects and natural scenes.
Dana Lane Photography is part business enterprise and part artistic passion wrapped in a neat bow and opened for the whole world to share in.
Specifically, in his more artistic pieces, he plays with shadow and light, and generally tries to show things that aren't normally scene in a slightly abstract way. All in all, his favorite subject to capture is the human body. The artistic possibilities here are almost endless.
"I like to portray the nude figure, but by using detailed lighting and shadows forcing the viewer to see not just a nude body, but the subtle curves and shapes of different areas of the body," says the artist.
In addition, he explains, Lane enjoys "taking small pieces of larger objects" and therefore showing the beauty of the "pieces" instead of just the entire subject.
Creativity and Photography
His artistic photography serves to refresh his creativity and love of the medium. After all, taking simple portraits, like those performed at weddings or high school senior photo shoots, can become a bit monotonous, and ultimately the amount of artistic license you can take with them is limited because you're ultimately a slave to the subjects desires instead of your own. He explains.
"My art photography takes my mind in directions I'm not used to and I find it not only teaches me new things, but refreshes my love of photography... Doing my art allows me to think in ways that client work doesn't generally allow. It keeps me fresh, focused and balanced."
In his artistic work, specifically those involving human bodies, it becomes more of a true collaboration between he and the subject. He plays with multiple angles, viewpoints, lighting and ideas as they come.
"When shooting the body...we work off the images photographed and making changes and new images. Sometimes what I originally had in mind is what I stick with, but sometimes this changing of viewpoints develops into something different and interesting," he remarks.
For him, artistic photography is a very fluid, unpredictable and exciting experience as opposed to the more monotonous nature of his client photography. Ultimately, though, both sides of the photography profession can go hand in hand. Artistic work serves to recharge him and allows him to learn new things, serving to make his work with clients even better.
"It starts in a specific place but I never really know where it's going to end up," says Lane
Photography in Worcester
Lane is currently working on a couple different series of images that he hopes to show in the not too distant future. His next challenge will be finding a gallery willing to work with a freelance artist and willing to show his work. He has had multiple showings, both solo and group, in Worcester.
Indeed, he thinks he is in the right place to expand his repertoire.
"I've found the art community in Worcester is fantastic and the area has done a great job fostering the arts with organizations like Arts Worcester, various meet up groups and the Worcester Art Museum."
For more information on Dana Lane and to view his work please visit his website or find him on Facebook.
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