The fantastical world of infrared photography with w.vv.vv
Hello W! Could you introduce yourself and how did you start photography?
I'm W, an artist who uses photography as a medium. As a person who feels visualization, I prefer patterns over words, this is how I came up with w.vv.vv. I allude identity just to keep people intrigued, so I have never revealed anything about myself.
Facts about me: I'm in my twenties and have been living like a nomad since I was young. My unconventional experiences have contributed to my bizarre perception of the world. My life has always been in a rush, I often find myself losing memories, as everything comes and goes like in a Zoetrope.
If something wasn’t captured by the camera, it’s like it never happened. Photography helps me remember the visual aspects of the moment. When viewing photographs, I feel like reliving the full panoply of emotions from the long-forgotten memories.
A few years ago, I bought myself a DSLR camera, the original purpose was cognitive offloading. As a person who doodles a lot, I started using photography as the canvas to create, to satisfy my lust of customizing the world with my aesthetics, and to overlay my imaginations with the real world. This is how I started photography.
How do you come across such sublime scenery? How do you differentiate yourself from other landscape artists?
I am a free soul who follows my heart more than my brain, so there is no specific routine as every day is different. As a spontaneous person, I prefer staying flexible and to go with the flow. I found myself more productive when I'm in the right state of mind, especially during photo editing.
As you might have noticed, I travel quite frequently. Before the trips, I would research the place and study the city plan and the geography of the area. This is to look for any possible photo spots, e.g. accessible buildings, lookups, or anywhere with high vantage points. A lot of my photos were taken in unusual places with no typical landmarks, which often make viewers look twice before questioning whether or not that location actually does exist.
Nowadays, there are millions of pictures taken in those prominent tourist spots, and uniqueness in style is the key to catch people’s eyes. I want to share my own perspective in the ordinary scenery and let people reappreciate the beauty of the original cityscapes.
Your work seems to cross many themes such as fantasy and infrared photography. It's as if we're transported in another world, how did it come about?
My work portrays my subconscious mind, I visualize my thoughts by transcending ordinary reality into a fantastical landscape that offers the viewer an imaginative escape. The goal is not only to plunge viewers into fascination but to make them re-evaluate our world and our existence.
To me, photography is about seeing the unseeable. I often receive comments like “This is fake, it doesn’t look like that in reality”. This might be true from a human's vision. However, the intention of my photography is to bring viewers to another level -- to see beyond the comprehension of naked eyes and walk into the universe of invisible spectrums.
It is true that my work covers a range of different themes. While infrared photography is one of my signature genres, viewers’ major impression on my photos also includes Japan, pastel, futurism, urban, cyberpunk, etc. The reason behind the variety of themes is that I don’t limit myself to a certain genre, I click my shutter when I see the potential in the shot. Every time I visit a new country, I gain different inspirations from each scene I witnessed.
The constantly changing environments allow me to connect spaces with concepts, and hence immerse myself in the wonders of unique imagination. Most of the time, the theme is born on the spot during the shoot, with the inspiration drawn from external stimuli. I enjoy getting new stimuli and constantly expanding my imaginations through trying on new photography styles.
