jessegimbel's photostream

I'm a photographer and graphic designer in Philadelphia, PA.

About my photos - I love textures, geometry in photos, beautiful composition, dramatic shadows, daylight, and peeling paint, among other things.

I do my best to do very little editing of my photos, if any at all - some cropping, possible minor exposure adjustments, and sometimes I process my photos using the same idea as cross-processing in a darkroom. I never do something to my photos that I wouldn't do by hand in a darkroom. I'm not pretentious, I just don't like to take the easy way out, which is so common these days! I think knowing how to be talented behind the camera is more important than having the ability to completely change a photo on the computer.

When I shoot photos of abandoned locations, I try to keep a balance between documenting what's there and showing nice compositions and textures that can rarely be found other places. I started shooting photos in locations like this because though I've found many photos of these kind of locations online, the majority of the time that people go, they are there for the adventure with no intent of showing the interesting and unique beauty. I go and try to show what it feels like to be there. There are such interesting feelings accompanied by distinct smells, significant colors of old paint, dramatic lighting, and the fact that these places have been played with by nature however it wants. We all spend a lot of time trimming hedges, killing bugs, and fighting off nature. These places are what our homes and jobs would look like if we gave them back to the earth.

www.myspace.com/jessegimbel