The frustration of photography is in that one can only capture the singular sense of sight, yet the photographer while creating the image, is aware of all the senses.
When she stands at the ocean as the sun hangs low in the sky, her mind’s image includes the salty air, the diminishing warmth of day and chill on the breeze of the approaching evening. The call of sea birds and crash of waves are part of the image too. Altogether, the senses create an emotional image that sight alone cannot capture.
In her work, Brenda (Somes) Schaffer artistically builds on her photographic images to recapture the emotional tug created by an image comprised of all the senses.
In 2006 Brenda adopted her signature “chromatic” style of producing work on a metallic base–as she found the play of light of the substrate contributed to the emotional presence of the work.
“My goal is not to document a scene, but rather to capture the sense of being in that moment; being in that scene.”
Married in 2015, Brenda Schaffer now pursues more outdoor photo shoots with her backpacking husband, Jason. Of him she says, “Every minute worth the wait for the right one, and he is!” She applies her artistic creativity to images from their backpacking adventures throughout Oregon, Idaho and Utah. Recently inspired by a trip around the Three Sisters, she plans to build a series of stained glass panels to capture the colors of the distinct ecosystems and landscapes. “I haven’t pulled out the soldering iron in awhile, but the glass work distills my love for colors and textures to their purest forms. But don’t worry, my first love is photography. That doesn’t change.”
