influencers - Jim Kasson

(first published April 21, 2021)

Jim Kasson follows a long line of impressionistic/ICM photographers that have, dare I say, left an impression on me. His works spans street photography to the highly technical and experimental. Much of Jim’s work is captured using long exposures and taken from a moving car (dare I say a drive by shooting?). The mechanism of adding a moving car is yet another variable that makes this type of work so difficult yet unique.

About the Artist

Jim started his career as an electrical engineer, his photography work carrying through his technical expertise. A life-long photographer, he has been exhibiting photographs since the early ‘80s.

Extracted from Jim’s artist’s statement on the Center for Photographic Art website;

For me, there’s an element of play, discovery, surprise, and wonder in making photographs. I value fluidity – getting to a place where there’s no clear dividing line between experimenting (playing, if you will) and doing serious work.

I often employ a photographic approach opposite previsualization: I want to be surprised by some aspect of the image captured during the exposure. I create photographic series that make surprises likely, even unavoidable. I love doing this. I’m so excited about seeing what happened when I get to image editing.

Over time, as – through the unavoidable process of learning – the results get more predictable, I start looking for a new project.

Source of inspiration

I really find inspiration from the fact that Jim continues to think outside of the box (Brownie…), and discontent with travelling the same road when work becomes predictable.

My favorite galley of Jim’s is his Staccato series. Here he takes a series of sharp images from varying angels, then blends layers (much in the same vein as Ventosa’s ‘in the round’), preserving an amount of detail in the key elements he wishes to promote.

This is certainly a process that I am keen to experiment further with myself, thanks for the inspiration Jim!

Artist showcase

Following is a quick sample of a few of my favorites, I would highly recommend a visit to Jim’s website (https://www.kasson.com/) and spending time to fully appreciate the breadth of his work.