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Divine Magic

This collection of black-and-white photographs, made with a 4x5 large-format view camera, examines the ineffable presence of the divine in the world around us. It invites viewers to explore a visual terrain where sacred iconography, and the elegance of the natural world coexist in reverence, mystery, and grace.

 

Much like a meditation, the view camera, with its precision and contemplative pace, allows for a way of seeing that is both intimate and expansive. Perspective control, multiple exposure, and precise focus through tilt, shift, and swing together imbue the subjects with surreal clarity that reveals both form and a presence that can hold both the sacred and the profane.

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Consider these images as fragments of a dream world where spiritual power is not confined to temples or rituals, but also found in the quiet dignity of the natural world and shimmering at the edges of the everyday – a cherished altar piece, the shape of a fallen petal, the wisdom of shaman and animal alike.

 

I hope these photographs inspire the viewer to slow down, contemplate, and perhaps recognize in themselves a reflection of their own longing for sacred connection and transcendence – that something magical beyond us is available to come through.

No Gender - Only Force

Despite religious, cultural, and environmental differences, certain symbols appear across the diversity of human experience. In addition to their core undiluted meaning, these archetypes also possess inherent energies that include masculine or feminine – or both. We dance with these forces from birth to death.

Through a blend of real and fanciful, these images offer glimpses of where and how these aspects might manifest in the world around us – and therefore inside ourselves.

Given our preconceptions (my own included), any representation of masculine and feminine, symbolic or otherwise, is fraught. Some images will reinforce common beliefs.Others may challenge them. Some remain a mystery. My hope is viewers discuss the perceptions and emotions the images evoke. and engage their own beliefs and biases that can hinder or foster a more expansive view that transcends gender politics.  

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Super Natural

Using both traditional and unexpected representations, this collection explores the enduring and universal symbolism of the portal: a bi-directional opening, threshold, or moment between ‘this’ and ‘that’, what we know and the mystery beyond. Portal crossings can be emotional, physical, or metaphysical. They are transformative - imparting something unimaginable to an earlier self. 

Now consider the crossing itself, and what might lie on the other side, or come through to ours. Consider further which portals appear more or less alluring, and why. In these inquiries may be found insights to help reconcile beliefs and emotions drawn from previous transitions, and desires and fears around imminent or unavoidable change to come.

This collection captures portals inspired by nature.  It is the first part of an ongoing visual meditation on impermanence and transformation across a range of themes.

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Near Myth    Coming Soon

Our pursuit of faith and devotion has infused every culture with its own mythologies - stories and characters representing the range of human experience, from base instincts to divine aspirations. Inspired by religion and folklore, these images distill some of the most emblematic, and often transcendent, symbols of our individual and collective belief systems, both contemporary and ancient.

By avoiding literal portrayals to instead infer the force that underlies the source narratives, the viewer is free to interpret what, if any, moral is delivered or lesson taught based on their own experience.   
  
Our species is capable of the most awful and most wonderful things. The stories we tell help remind us of those extremes amid the chorus of light and dark voices we all carry with us. Like the evergreen myths they represent, these images may offer a fresh mirror in which to see our own.

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Semi Core

Work in progress

 © 2025 Vince Thomas Photography

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