PREDESTINATION, and Science Fiction’s Impact on my Fine Art Photography Style
“ALL YOU ZOMBIES”
I get a lot of inspiration for my Fine Art Abstract Photography by the imagery I imagine in the stories I read from Science Fiction and Horror authors.
I just finished watching the movie “PREDESTINATION” (2014), starring Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook. Actually, this is the second time I’ve seen this move….It is just so good.
I won’t give any details about the movie because if you haven’t seen it, it might ruin it for you. I highly recommend you do watch it, IF, you enjoy Science Fiction mixed with Mystery.
However, the (minor) point of this post is actually that the movie is based on a short story by my favourite Science Fiction author: Robert A. Heinlein, and the story is “All You Zombies.”
This movie, and the fact that it was based on Heinlein’s work, took me back in time, to a memory from High School, maybe when I was a Sophomore. I spent considerable time in our library, and one clear memory, one which stands out more than others from my time in the library, was seeing my first Robert A. Heinlein book. We had those tall, rotating, metal book displays strategically placed around the library. I twirled one around, looking for something interesting, and the cover artwork of one book caught my eye—It was spectacular! The book was, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” (1966), by Heinlein. Without reading a word on the back cover, or anywhere on the book, I knew it was going to be great! Why? Because the cover artwork on that edition of the book was AMAZING! It was, literally, OUT OF THIS WORLD!
That’s not to say that cover art has anything significant to do with the quality of the story, but luckily in this case, I loved that book! “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, is one of my favourite stories by Heinlein.
Now, the main point of this post is that I didn’t know it at the time (back in High School), but the artists of artwork seen on many Science Fiction books, had some sort of lasting impression on me.
I have always been fascinated with outer space, and often imagine what it must look like….Out There. I think the Science Fiction Artists have greatly inspired me. Their works have led me on my path, in the designing of many of my Art Photographs, and even with creating entire Photography Series, such as my A VIEW FROM THE EDGE OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY (AVFTEOTMWG). It is my abstract interpretation (imagination) of what I may see, IF I were standing, or floating, in space, at the edge of our galaxy.
Therefore, definitely, I believe a lot of my work has been germinated from seeds sown from both Science Fiction stories, and Science Fiction artworks.