Oak

Welcome to Artists Featured. A newsletter by an artist trying to support other artists.

gm once again, next editorial is here.

This time an amazing artist nostalgia photographer, Oak. To accommodate Oak's longer answers to my questions, I slightly adjusted the concept to make the experience more appealing to you, dear Reader.

Get your coffee and let's get to it.

First I have a small mental practice for you, try and recall your favourite Disney or Pixar cartoon movie. It doesn't matter which one it is and if it is from the '80s or it's the newest Inside Out 2.

Think of the magic in this movie, reminisce how the producers played with colours and compositions. Think about the way the movie makes you feel. When you are ready, try to focus on the trinity of photos below.

Did you find a similar feeling? I certainly did. I have known Oak, this Canada-based photographer for around a year, and whereas I have always liked his artworks, only in last month or so I had realized how special they make me feel.

Oak's photos are giving me that mellow peace of mind I tend to seek for in cartoons and children's stories.

Despite the motifs and visual styles of his artworks quite differ, you can spot a strong underlying theme, a certain feeling as if the worlds depicted in his photos came from some kind of a fairy tale. It's a timeless realm where each place or object has its' own soul..

Q:
Your photos look like strokes of sudden inspiration while you were on your way to somewhere, spontaneous and nonchalant. How do you get inspired?

A:
First I wanted to say thanks for the compliments and taking the time to really take a look at my work. I've always been inspired by the way the world just exists. Every home I walk past I like to believe there's a story there.

Families that have raised their children in those places, celebrating promotions at work, birthdays and anniversaries but also struggles, heartbreak and loss happen in these homes.

It really makes me happy that the work looks effortless because it feels like that. I have travelled a lot and lived all over the world, but this place is and will always be my home. I just want to showcase it a light that I think it deserves. We walk past the world and never really stop to just take it in and enjoy it because we are so busy, constantly in motion.

Photography has really taught me to slow down and appreciate little things. The warm light from a window at night. The shapes and colours of the city are just as vibrant as the people who live here. I find myself more and more just observing, looking for something interesting. Vancouver Island is a pretty magical place.

I do spend time on google maps just looking around my city for locations that seem interesting. Places and streets I've never been to or ones that I never took the time to really look at. We have a ton of history here so I pick a starting point, put in my earbuds and let my feet take me from there.

I try to shoot when I have no other plans or places to be so I don't feel rushed. I do have a camera with me wherever I go just in case. I think I've made significant progress in my understanding of photography because I do it everyday.

The first collection I explored was Efflorescence, a series of 9 artworks celebrating the nature reclaiming what truly belongs to her.

I must bow before Oak's ability to express the beautiful vibrance of the world we live in. My favourite touch about these artworks is the fact that most of the nature growing in the scenes are actually flowers, not just plants, and it gives the whole appeal of the collection tender and effortless feel.

I can't stop but thinking how it would feel to stand in there for a while, just admiring the beauty of those flowers, smelling them and touching the petals.

Q:
Your photos look like strokes of sudden inspiration while you were on your way to somewhere, spontaneous and nonchalant. How do you get inspired?

A:
First I wanted to say thanks for the compliments and taking the time to really take a look at my work. I've always been inspired by the way the world just exists. Every home I walk past I like to believe there's a story there.

Families that have raised their children in those places, celebrating promotions at work, birthdays and anniversaries but also struggles, heartbreak and loss happen in these homes.

It really makes me happy that the work looks effortless because it feels like that. I have travelled a lot and lived all over the world, but this place is and will always be my home. I just want to showcase it a light that I think it deserves. We walk past the world and never really stop to just take it in and enjoy it because we are so busy, constantly in motion.

Photography has really taught me to slow down and appreciate little things. The warm light from a window at night. The shapes and colours of the city are just as vibrant as the people who live here. I find myself more and more just observing, looking for something interesting. Vancouver Island is a pretty magical place.

I do spend time on google maps just looking around my city for locations that seem interesting. Places and streets I've never been to or ones that I never took the time to really look at. We have a ton of history here so I pick a starting point, put in my earbuds and let my feet take me from there.

I try to shoot when I have no other plans or places to be so I don't feel rushed. I do have a camera with me wherever I go just in case. I think I've made significant progress in my understanding of photography because I do it everyday.

I have never been to Canada but for some reason – probably my own ignorance – I have always considered the country being a frozen wasteland of nothing but grizzly bears and permafrost (exaggerating for dramatic effect).

Oak's technical skill and an artistic eye brings me to a comfortable realization that it's absolutely untrue, and that Vancouver Island and Canada offers a full range of colours easily comparable with the place I come from. His photos are warmly embracing and breathtaking in their simplicity. I can't stop looking at them.

Q:
The scenes from your latest analog photos (Solana) have very rose-colored bubble-gummy appeal. Is it just a great result of colouring experimentation or are you trying to depict something specific?

A:
So I have gone back and fourth and experimented with a lot colour for my latest series. I really wanted to curate a collection that not only highlighted the diversity in architecture on Vancouver Island but also highlight it's charm.

I shoot with Fujifilm cameras and they have a lot options in-camera for you to mess with and create "recipes" that tailor to the results you want. I wanted bright and saturated colours because a lot of the locations here have that. I created some base presets in photoshop to compliment the jpegs I was getting out of camera, and really make the shots feel punchy but stay cozy.

The results have given me a very plastic looks to my shots, almost as if they were toy sets that you played with when you were a kid. Using composition techniques from photographers like Wes Anderson, Nicanor Garcí, Manuel Pita, and Sebastian Weiss I try make the images feel flat like you are looking at illustrations in the pages of your favourite children's book.

I will continue to work on this series for the foreseeable future as I still have so much left to shoot and endless inspiration here.

We took a little detour today with the editorial concept as I wanted to give more space to Oak's detailed answers. I was happy to do so, Oak is an incredibly talented artist drawing inspiration from some of my favourite artists of the world.

On his Foundation and Exchange Art pages there are many available pieces, and I advise you to take some time to scroll through the collections to find your favourite one. If you like fairy tales and great vibes, you will be satisfied.

Price ranges:
1/1s: usually between 0.5 - 1 SOL, 0.05+ ETH
Chains: Solana, Ethereum
Links:
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Oaknarrow
Twitter profile: https://x.com/Oak_Arrow
Foundation: https://exchange.art/oak/nfts

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