Birmingham, Alabama, artist Jamie Carnathan layers photos to the point of abstraction.
Jamie is a self-taught photographer who works entirely digitally. She got her first camera when she was 12 years old, and she learned how to layer her photos about five years ago. This technique opened a whole new world for her to make completely new images.
“I have a lifelong love of abstract art and color, but I also love photography,” said Jamie. “Layering allows me to marry my two loves into one. It’s a creative challenge to see the photos and come up with a new piece.”
For Mountain Brook’s GreenWise Market, Jamie took to the streets around the store. She photographed an old mill, a nearby walking trail and the stained-glass windows found in old buildings from the original Mountain Brook village.
“I tried to create a story,” she said. “The old mill was the first building here, and what built up around it was the village. The mural is about the establishment of the community.”
Jamie finds herself taking photos of things most people don’t notice, and she likes presenting something other than a straightforward photograph. Often, the pieces she creates happen almost accidentally by opening different photos on top of one another and seeing what happens. The result is influenced by what she’s going through or listening to at the time.
The mural for the store is the first piece she’s ever been hired to create.
“I was super excited and very nervous to be selected,” Jamie said. “I had to learn to make bigger pieces and create a theme so the pieces work together as one. I learned a lot from this experience.”
She exhibits her work at several outdoor art festivals every year, most within an hour’s drive. You can find more of Jamie’s work online:
- website: www.jcarnathanartphotography.zenfolio.com
- Instagram: @jcarnathanartphotography
