brad walls photographs women on sand dunes in conceptual aerial project

repetition, symmetry, and negative space as seen from above

known for his works ‘pools from above’ and ‘water geomaids’, award-winning aerial photographer brad walls has released a new conceptual collection titled ‘detached in harmony’. the new project draws inspiration from the pandemic, as well as from 40s fashion photography, inviting the audiences to explore the concepts of repetition, symmetry, and negative space through this first-of-its-kind art series from above.

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all images courtesy of brad walls

conceptual aerial photography

brad walls first set his sights on creating conceptual photography series when he noticed the distinct lack of aerial-based photography in the genre. as he explains, ‘photography is mostly shot on handheld cameras, but I wanted to showcase the value of an alternate viewpoint to convey a meaningful story.’ in creating ‘detached, in harmony’, walls wanted to harness nuance and meticulous attention to detail in order to mirror the state of the world during the pandemic. like many, the artist had experienced how distant and repetitive life had become, and placed a keen focus on this element in his work.

through his take on the topic, the photographer presents these concepts using repetition, symmetry of figures, and negative space throughout the series – trademark compositing techniques that can be observed throughout his greater body of work. each frame within the series is carefully arranged, placing the model at even lengths and highlighting the shadow cast to emphasize our solitude and the lurking darkness of the era. walls’ choice to have the models posed mid-movement underlines the uniformity and surrealism of the series. as he mentions, ‘the figures are purposefully static, to symbolize how we have been frozen in time over the past 18 months.’

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drawing influence from Clifford Coffin

brad walls also draws inspiration from 40s fashion photographer clifford coffin’s ‘models sitting on sand dunes’. the aerial photographer displays a melancholic sense of loneliness in his series, and balances these emotions with warmer hues, similarly found in coffins’ work.‘we all belong to something that separates us. it’s a sort of melancholic irony,’ walls states.

‘detached, in harmony’ placed second in the 2021 fine art photography awards ‘conceptual’ category, and placed silver in both the prestigious PX3 awards and moscow fine art awards of 2021. the artist currently plans to exhibit the series in a solo exhibition during 2022.

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