Dave Ness
Photography
- When did you start taking photos professionally?
Late in life. I’ve always been interested but got “focused” around 2010 and seriously showing in 2013.
- Why did you decide to do a whole series on wave formations?
Every wave is different. They have personalities so I challenged myself to show the spirit of the waves with a new technique.
- Do people often mistake your “spirit of the wave” series as paintings?
So much so that I have a sign in my booth titled “Are these paintings?”. I developed a technique of leaving the camera open for a second or so and then panning the camera in the same direction and at the same speed as the wave. When you see it … you feel it … and then you start to think of waves differently.
- Your art adorns many walls, residential and public, around San Diego. What installation makes you the proudest? (Obviously, it’s ^this piece at Four Fin, but aside from that…)
I’m proud and honored when someone chooses my work for their home or business. When Four Fin chose “Soft Curl” at 80″ wide by 40″ high to hang in your offices, I saw how it fit your marketing message but it also fits your culture, your brand, and your style. I once had the privilege of showing my work at the Hospice center many years ago. One piece “Resting Giants” caught the eye of a wife and daughter of a man staying at the center. When his wife called me to order the piece she told me they loved it for its beauty but also for the title. Her husband had passed a few days earlier and she said, “He was my Giant and now he’s Resting”. I delivered the piece, hung it for her and we chatting for almost two hours about what a wonderful man her husband was.
