“Ever since I can remember, I’ve been captivated by the mystery and power of abstract art,” says Andrew Stearns. “There’s just something about it’s fierce independent nature that intrigues me to no end.” Stearns, currently working out of Austin, Texas, has a way of seeing the amazing patterns in everyday life that many of us just aren’t tuned-in to.  His work is about color and lines and shadows; and lately he’s been busy making circles–beautiful circles.  I wanted to talk to him about where this is all coming from.

EV: Is this all you’re doing right now?  When we first met a few years ago, you were shooting a lot of different things, including live music.

AS:  Although I shoot many different styles, abstraction is my main focus.  The reason behind the various styles stems from my work process.  I let the image dictate the outcome.

EV:  So, you’ve studied art in school.  Was photography your first love?

AS:  I attended Bard College in New York to study abstract painting but found out, when I got there, that all the painters/professors were engaged in the current fashion which was “Figurative Painting”.  It was at this time that I discovered Photography and it was through this medium that I was able to circumvent the figurative influence and produce all the abstract stuff I wanted.  I was in heaven, or so I thought.  Even though I was given a key to the lab, the facilities had much to be desired.  I therefore transferred to the University of New Mexico which had a fantastic Department of Photography.

EV: Tell me about your “Circle” images. It’s photographic abstractionism. How did it come about? How do you put these images together?

AS: I was searching for inspiration and came across this article which used a painting by Robert Delaunay for illustration. From there, a series of circles ensued. I create these images with the “Polar Coordinates ” filter in Photoshop. That’s the easy part. To start, I piece together several images, flatten them and put it through the filter to see if it works. From there, I cut and paste, crop, blur, colorize, etc. to get an image that is strong enough to stand on it’s own.

Premier Disque, Robert Delaunay, 1913.

EV: I love the way you find patterns and interesting lines and relationships between those lines in many of your images. When you come across something that looks like it would make a good composition, do you frame it in your mind first, or do you put the camera up to your eye and do it that way?

AS:  Once I have defined a series to work on, it’s all trial and error.  After a while you start to know intuitively which images will work and which will not.  Much of it’s in the minds eye but it makes my life much easier if I frame everything “just so.”  Usually when I go out to shoot, I look for basic structures.  I can then use what’s in the image or embellish it with thousands of different textures I have stored on my harddrive.  Looking through the lens is one part of the work flow but studying the image on my computer screen takes up much more of my time and creative energy.

EV:  What equipment do you use?

AS:  I use a Nikon D80 but since my abstractions are composed of several photographs what I shoot with doesn’t make much difference.  The lens I use most is the Nikkor 28-80 1:3-5.6 which was included in the “bundle”.  Here’s something kinda funny…..a month after I bought the camera I noticed that the lens was acting up so I took it off the body and a piece fell out.  Looked like a broken computer chip.  I knew this wasn’t a good thing so I peered inside and noticed the rear lens was askew.  Using my finger, I popped it back into place and put it back on.  Worked great!  Still wondering what that computer chip did.

EV:  It seems that every photographer I interview has a little bit of advice they want to dispense with, do you have anything to contribute?

AS: Yeah, don’t ever buy a “bundled” package!  On a more serious note:  I think is was Cartier Bresson who said he never thought himself to be a great photographer, he just took more shots than anyone else, a lot more.

EV:  Anything else you’d like to share?

AS:  Yes, I would like to thank you, Ed, for giving me a chance to show my work to others outside my close circle of friends and family.  To be honest, I have only seen a few of my images printed.  Those that have been printed (and sold) through my association with the Metropolitan Gallery are miles away and I’m not gonna buy a plane ticket just to go see them…though I am tempted!

• Andrew Stearn’s Website