As far back as I can remember, I have always been captivated by airplanes and cars, cars and airplanes. Today, it's all about trains and planes and nothing has inspired my imagination more, than flight. Flight, holds that mysterious allure of endless possibilities, like a boundless horizon where the sky meets the sea and nothing else in between. Like photography, it represents danger, risk, and the immense arrogance of man to believe that he can defy nature, soar into the sky like a bird and burst onwards and upwards into the unknown.
An airplane in a hangar is like a bird locked in a cage, and those great men and women who I admire most, who chose to pioneer flight, represent that kind of unrestrained freedom, a passion I cherish most. The freedom to choose your destiny is the same as choosing your destination. It is a choice taken by an individual to decide where to go in life and what to do with it. The same can be said about photography, a highly individual pursuit where only one person can look through a lens at any given time. Photography, like flight, is all about turning the "what if" into the "what is" by persistently acting beyond the current constraints of so called “normal” behaviour. When I close my eyes, I dream of flying open cockpit across the atlantic to America, over Africa or even the Andes in a rickety contraption with nothing more than a washing machine for an engine, loosely held together with nuts, bolts and many rivets.
Each time I board a commercial airliner I sit next to that little window and press myself up against it, knowing full well that this incredible feat of technology gets me to my destination safely. But I am overcome with sheer exhilaration at those maverick individuals who pioneered the skies, with such a daring mindset beyond the reach of professional training or institutionalisation. Being born with something is the difference between being made or manufactured by someone or something. It is always the amateurs that get us there first and it's the professionals that always proceed behind.
AEROSCAPES by Michael Humphrey
A unique collectors portfolio consisting of:
Unique A3 case with collage cover created by the photographer.
12 mounted black and white prints measuring 11.5cm x 16.5cm.
Printed on Ilford warmtone fibre based paper.
Selenium toned for archival purposes.
Stamped, signed and titled by the photographer with personal annotations.
A very personal and hand written introduction inside the casing.