Photography by Paul Bloomfield

NYC 11201-10022

My first time in Brooklyn after all these years.

Boston 02201-2008

EC3 : London Architecture

These images are from London's old financial district. The architecture exudes modern expressions of power and design.

Painting and Drawing 2024-

In this body of work, I delve into the profound themes of aging, health, and mortality?universal experiences that connect us all. Through a fusion of traditional and contemporary techniques, I seek to create pieces that transcend mere imagery, becoming symbols of our shared human journey. In my particular case the specter of heart failure looms as a stark reminder of life's impermanence.

Yoga and Fitness

Senior Photos

email for booking...

Dance

Flux

We have been living in a mass culture of parallel realities. Simple truths become distorted for personal and political gain. Facts became fiction. Corruption and nonsense loom heavy. How to express these tensions and failures ? Big shapes, bright colors and cartoonish lines belie our realities, make palatable the unwanted, brighten our sadness, demonize the good, and cheer us on.

CV19 Works on Paper 2020-21

These works were directly inspired by the early weeks of Covid-19. We were initially told it was a respiratory infection that was caused by droplets transferred through the air. Stories of people on ventilators and still dying flooded the news. Morbidly,I imagined lungs struggling to cope with overbearing liquid and mucous. I attempted to express the filling and cogesting of this vital organ. The imagery of lungs and droplets became a starting point for the next painting. The twin structure of the lung suggested a parallel struggle, that we are side-by-side, in this together, but on other days I also saw the irony of being near people, but the reality and pain of suffering alone. Moreover, the transmission in many cases could come from somebody close to you. I have been interested in the actual and implied imagery of liquid, semi-solids and gravity for many years. Earlier and concurrent work on contemporary political portraits featured this. I was fueled by my feeling that so much we had taken for granted in the past few years was in a perpetual state of downward flux: melting, deforming into the unrecognizable. There is an ugliness to the imagery, and I saw that as being an honest expression of the subverting and deconstruction of our nation?s structures and values. I saw it all as being swallowed, digested, defromed,and released as waste. Yet within the imagery, for my own sanity, and shaky belief in hope, the choice of colors, gestures, patterns existed to balance my feelings and even to make them one day perhaps palatable.

Lines

Music

All the President's Men

This gallery focuses on some of the major political figures in our current administration. All of these figures have been on media coverage extensively at various times. With intense, daily crises, it easy to forget their stories. Common to all these figures is the central element of not being qualified for their roles, either by experience or by having missions counter to the job at hand. In addition, the current investigation into Russian interference in the US election system in 2016 undermines the integrity of our elected officials and those appointed by the current administration

Uplift--Cambodia

Dancer and performers from Cambodian NGOs. Exhibit at Bing Arts Center March-June 2017

Tea Pickers of Yunnan

Yunnan is the largest province for tea production in China. It also contains 38% of all of China's ethnic minorities, who have been grappling with family traditions and new possibilities. This is part one of a three part photo series based on education in Yunnan ethnic Minorities. This was made possible by support from Wilbraham and Monson Academy, and Yunnan Ethnic Minorities Volunteer Project (YEMS).

Culture at Work: Lahu Village, Yunnan, China

How does a community retain its culture amidst shifting interests and generations?

Photograms

Cameraless images made in darkroom ( 2003-present)

Portraits

Tree Paintings 2013-14

selection of tree paintings

Photograms 2013 Ode to the Book

Connected to Ode to The Book series, these photographic images combine aspects of painting, drawing, and the photographc process. Each is unique.

Ode to the Book

After two millennia the book as we know it is in a curious phase of existence. Electronic books have a different character and relationship to reader. This work attempts to express my personal connection with various books.

Memory and Meaning 2009

Re-working pre-existing photography from WWII and the Holocaust is the basis for examining the connection between memory, meaning, and visual discovery.Shown as part of a solo show "Camera Obscured" at Springfield, MFA 2009/10. Memory and Meaning: Non camera based photography.Manipulated appropriated photographic imagery in a traditional darkroom This work, no doubt, carries with it uncomfortable elements. In reusing existing historical imagery from WWII, in particular the Holocaust, memories, feelings, and history share the surface and content of these manipulated photographic works. Reviewing, exploring, and interacting with this imagery is a personal attempt to understand the mechanisms and scope of these tragedies. In doing so, I have been forced to reconsider my perceptions of history, identity, and memory. While the past shapes the present, the present can determine how the past is viewed. Inherent in the photographic process of this series of works is the back and forth between determining the contents of the image, shadows and light, abstraction and figuration, clarity and obscurity, completion and fragmentation. My photographic working methods are analogous to my understanding and interpretation of history.

London 2012

My Hometown

Terra

photographs, photographs with hand-drawing, painting, digital, film all related to earth.

Paintings 2015-20

selection of works

Paul Bloomfield

photography & visual arts