Nawfal Nur

Date:  26 August 2010

"Taking ordinary subjects and creating unusual images from them is my ideal photography exercise, or photography maze," says Nawfal Nur.

Nawfal says that he was never formally trained in photography or art, but he’s happy to acknowledge that he’s been a student of photography for the last 33-years.

It was back in Lincoln, Nebraska, his hometown, where he started his photography journey, tromping around in his grandmother’s flower gardens, taking macro photographs of anything in that magical place.  His first SLR camera was a PENTAX K1000 with a 50mm lens, and that was enough to spark the photography flame.

Nawfal graduated from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, in 1990, where he earned a Master of Community & Regional Planning. He spent some time working in City Planning and Computer Software while living in Lincoln.  His planning interests ranged from Planning in Areas with Limited Land Space (his thesis topic); Planning to deal with Hunger and Starvation in Developing Countries; and Planning for Special Populations.

In 1994, Nawfal and his family moved to Malaysia. “Most people think that moving across town is a chore; well, try moving you and your ’stuff’ halfway around the world, that move for us was a gargantuan task!”

Nawfal gets a lot of inspiration from the Abstract Expressionism Master Painters:  Abstract Expressionism is a painting style that Nawfal loves, and he tries to incorporate the feeling of this style when he does any Abstract Photography, and you will also see this style incorporated in his “ETHEREAL VISIONS” photography series. It is no small surprise that Nawfal’s favorite Abstract Expressionist painter is Jackson Pollock. 

"Jackson said that ‘A good painter paints what he is,’ and I think this is a good place to start when it comes time to create a new art piece.  After all, if you are not following your own vision, then your work is not going to grow very much."

Many photographers have inspired Nawfal, but New York Commercial Photographer, Carl Fischer, is the one that comes to his mind first. “I had no idea at the time, that many of the magazine photographs from ESQUIRE and LOOK magazines I marveled at in my youth were Carl Fischer’s work,” says Nawfal.

Nawfal says that two photos by Fischer are especially memorable for him: Andy Warhol drowning in the can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup (1969); and, another important Fischer image is of world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in 1967, as the martyred St Sebastian. In the 60’s, these photos took 3-days to complete, and all done by hand – no computer manipulation: Totally amazing!

If Nawfal had to choose one single photography reference as his most prized learning ‘tool’, it would be, without a doubt, he says, “Secrets of Studio Still Life Photography” by Gary Perweiler. 

Lately, Nawfal has been working on Still Life and Fine Art Photography and currently sells prints through Imagekind,

Θ   http://nawfalnur.imagekind.com/  | Here you can see and purchase Nawfal's Art Photography. 

Nawfal has been a featured photographer at the Digimarc Community Gallery website since 2005:  

ж   https://www.digimarc.com/mypicturemarc/community/showcase.asp

Nawfal is currently editing a new PDF Photography EBook, titled, "Ethereal Dreams & Hope."  This book includes over 30 of Nawfal's smoke art photographs, and motivational quotes that accompany the general visual themes of each photograph.  Nawfal has created this publication with hopes that it will help people who suffer from the very debilitating effects of depression.

All in all, Nawfal says that when he picks up a camera, any camera, his main goal is to create better photographs than the last time he picked up the camera, and that’s not such a bad goal to have.