About Nawfal Nur

Nawfal Nur

"Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the eyenology (seeing)." -Henri Cartier-Bresson

"Reality offers us such wealth that we must cut some of it out on the spot, simplify. The question is, do we always cut out what we should? While we're working, we must be conscious of what we're doing. Sometimes we have the feeling that we've taken a great photo, and yet we continue to unfold. We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole." -Henri Cartier-Bresson, on photojournalism, American Photo, September/October 1997 , page: 76

I wanted to start out with those two quotes by H. Cartier-Bresson, because his words pretty much sum up how I feel about photography. It's not about the technology: It's about seeing! It's not about snapping away at everything just because digital is 'cheap' and 'easy': Photography is about seeing the good subject and cutting out the clutter.

Don't get me wrong...I love digital cameras and technology - it's awesome; however, I think I like lighting equipment and lighting technique better.

Maybe I'm a little "Old-School", but personally, I feel that if you want to see just how good a photographer you really are, go back and try your hand at a single roll of film, and then when you don't have an LCD screen to review your shots, and you get your prints back, at that point, you know how good you are at photography.

Now, a little about me: I'm originally from Lincoln, NE (USA). I'm married to a local Penang girl, and I have two wonderful kids.

In 1994, we moved to Penang. In 1998, I started Freelance Photography and have shot for several international magazine publications, mostly Malaysian Cultural-Historical subjects.

Biggest influences in my photographic work...that's a bit of a tough one to pinpoint. However, I guess I would have to say Doc Edgerton's work has influenced my liking for macro water droplet photography. "Harold Eugene 'Doc' Edgerton, Sc.D. (April 6, 1903–January 4, 1990) was a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is largely credited with transforming the stroboscope from an obscure laboratory instrument into a common device seen in nearly every camera." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Edgerton).

There is no question in my mind that my love for the 'Abstract' is highly influenced by the work of Jackson Pollock. "Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) was an influential American painter and a major force in the abstract expressionist movement." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock)

Of late, I've been working more on Fine Art Photography and have my work for sale at http://nawfalnur.imagekind.com/alienwater .