POETIC PHOTOGRAPHY

David Bayard created these beautiful pieces combining the written word with photography. Here is how he created the pieces in his own words:

I wanted to display my writing along with my nature photography, and the natural textures and use of materials of your papers is a perfect fit.

In "The Path" greeting card, I am using the Green Nepalese Lokta paper, first printed and then photographed (in a bed of leaves) to print together with the image. You can see how well the paper augments the photo -- it's like they were born for each other!

"The Sea" greeting card has the verse printed on Thai Unryu Paper, which I then wet, tore into shape and "singed" with a light dye around the edges while it was still wet, to produce the effect of a weathered fragment drifting across the beach. I then photographed it and added it to the image.

For my photographic prints, I use the paper in a separate matting window in the frame. For "The Path" print, I used Nepalese Lokta Tissue Paper over Natural Green Mango Paper. The text was printed on both papers, then aligned on atop another, which gives the printing a real depth. I used two papers because the Green Mango Paper had a wonderful texture, but print tended to get lost on the mottled background. Using the Nepalese Lokta Tissue over top allowed the Mango paper to show through but not overpower the printing.

There may be other places to find natural papers but Mulberry is it, as far as I'm concerned. The aura of passion and creativity radiating from the makers' hands remains embedded in the paper, I feel, and is gently released to the world each time it is viewed by others.

See more of David's work here.