Steven Baxter

My work combines an appreciation and respect for nature with inventive use of computer code to achieve images that would be difficult or impossible without technology.

The style of photo art which I call 'texture abstract' was developed over a period of years, as an attempt to get beyond conventional photography and explore the endless possibilities that digital manipulation offers.

The process of creating a 'texture abstract' is as follows:

I start off with a series of photographs (taken by me) which I feel represent the 'texture' of a place, person, or thing. It could be of the sky, some skin, or a whole room, and it could be a macro shot or a wide angle view. I write scripts on a Linux computer utilising a program called Imagemagick; these scripts manipulate my photographs without any direct interaction from me (other than writing the scripts). They perform a variety of functions, and sometimes evoke certain types of film.

I then combine several of these processed 'texture' photos (usually around 5 or 6), tailoring the results very carefully by hand, until I am satisfied that I have acheived the effect I set out for. There are around 5 versions of each 'texture' photo in the final image, which is effectively 25 to 30 images all viewed at once. With conventional photography, this would need 25 to 30 projectors (with a different slide in each) in order to achieve a similar effect.

I also create digital splatter art in a Jackson Pollock style, and distressed (scratchy) black and white photographs. All of my images are processed and manipulated digitally, using a combination of my own scripts and photo editing programs such as Gimp or Cinepaint.

My latest pieces and further information are available on my website:
www.euchrid.co.uk.

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Mini biography:

I have had a varied career, working as a book store manager, video rental manager, cleaner, bar manager, labourer, civil servant, t-shirt seller, website designer and call centre employee, amongst others. Since my teens, in my 'spare time' I have also written screenplays and short stories, taken photographs, composed music, and worked on several books. I have no formal art training, and am entirely self-taught in computing, art and music. I am related to Glen Baxter (www.glenbaxter.com), and knew Carlos Ezquerra, co-creator of Judge Dredd, when I was a child. Having these two artists in my life gave me an early interest in unusual and unconventional art.

I now divide my time between photography, art, DJing (as DJ Kaboodle), making music and spending time with my family.