Martin Franks specialises in dynamic colour-rich digitally manipulated images. Although he is based in the flat fenlands outside Cambridge (UK) a lot of his work emerges from his travels. He is renowned for his cityscapes, landscapes, and interpretations of food and animal subjects, as well as his amusing and curious Mannequins and Crashed Cars series. His pictures have been described as ‘enigmatic’, ‘bold’ and ‘innovative’. A recent article described him as ‘an emerging talent in the world of photography’ and ‘an original and inspirational artist’. http://martinfranksphotographer.co.uk His work is available as professional quality SIGNED LIMITED EDITION PRINTS produced on specialist art paper or high grade canvas. The Editions are usually no larger than 15 spread across 3 different print sizes. His manipulated photographs are now on display in many domestic and commercial settings. Martin also undertakes professional commissions. http://martinfranksphotographer.co.uk In justifying his work as a serious artform he writes: " Photography is mostly an instant artform. The moment, the shutter, the print. From its earliest days some film photographers have extended this process by manipulating the image – mostly in the darkroom - developing, enlarging, printing. Digital Photography takes that to another stage by using software to push the original image in a multitude of possible directions. My camera – the subject, the framing, sufficient light – is the starting point. You get that wrong and all the software in the world will not help you. Beyond that I enter a world of delicate, subtle changes, sometimes to the whole image, sometimes to discreet parts. I suppose I am trying to create an effect that seems to capture something about the essence of the image and the feelings I consciously or subconsciously get from it. Anyone who enjoys the image perhaps feels similarly or at least empathises with me. Yes I sometimes (but rarely) crop an image – but then so do film photographers. Yes I fiddle with the intensity of colour and contrast – but so do film photographers. They are not competitive artforms just complementary ones, using some of the same tools but also evolving new ones. The Software and the Mouse are my Developer and Enlarger (and my scratch and my tray tilt and my exposure). Film and Digital Photography inter-relate like Watercolours and Oils. And both photographic forms can potentially involve manipulation. So does that make Manipulated Digital Photography more or less of an artform than Film Photography? Is it really Photo Montage of Photo Collage? Ridiculous questions. It’s an artform because the viewer/receiver perceives it to be so. The form title is still open to debate. Photography has always struggled with those who feel that only time spent on an artwork should be a measure of its worth. Yet much of post-modernism has challenged this with instant and eccentric forms. Some of my work takes weeks with numerous rejections of interpretations and options. Other pieces seem to come together fast requiring only a dozen touches to bring out an impression. I then control the printing process to get exactly what I want." http://martinfranksphotographer.co.uk

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