The magical, mystical \u201cminor magic\u201d digital photography art tour is a celebration of original craft, whimsical color, bold contrast and one\u2019s feral imagination.<\/p>\n
The brainchild of illustrator Randy Crawford, \u201cminor magic\u201d allows the science of digital photography to distort and convert images into ingenious, thought-provoking artistry. Swapping pens, pencils and paintbrushes for a camera, a Mac computer and Adobe Photoshop, the Talmadge resident transforms the proverbial into tales of the surreal.<\/p>\n For Crawford, an expert in understanding the nuances of Photoshop, the idea by accident began while recreating digital transparencies. \u201cI flip-flopped faces, over-laid elements and created fat and skinny cartoons for fun,\u201d he said. \u201cI played with transparencies until they became dynamic images, recognizable yet unrecognizable. It took five years to nail a process that yielded an illustrative photograph to look like an abstract surrealistic painting.\u201d<\/p>\n The digitally enhanced artwork gave birth to \u201cminor magic,\u201d Crawford\u2019s \u201csimple, no-big-deal idea that\u2019s awesome and magical.\u201d Photographs translated into abstract paintings include years of international and domestic travel shooting metropolitan cities such as Berlin, New York and San Francisco; people, cars, bicycle, architecture, wildflowers, and San Diego\u2019s Little Italy and Marina sunsets.<\/p>\n Touting a \u201cgood eye\u201d for composition with a camera, Crawford said his passion for photography simply wasn\u2019t enough. \u201cI love photography but successful photographers are few and far between,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople see pictures every day. But I do what people can\u2019t see every day. I take an average looking photograph and increase its appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n Crawford noted that not every photograph works within his translation library. Snapshots require natural rotation or intersecting points to assemble as double exposures. \u201cImages must be worthy of conversion,\u201d he explained. \u201cBecause I use flopped, transparent layers to create multiple exposures on a single image, the photograph must have a pivot or a flip-flop point. I must frame a photograph \u2014 prior to shooting \u2014 to include an access point for lining two images together, so the image naturally fits the process of distorted manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n Crawford\u2019s snapshots are altered according to his muse. \u201cI\u2019m inspired by the artist that resides in my heart and soul,\u201d said Crawford, who spent 25 years as a graphic designer for Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, now known as the Northrop Grumman Corp. \u201cThe artistic bone is the strongest bone in my body.\u201d<\/p>\n Positive reactions and \u201cmajor wow-factors\u201d led Crawford to debut his work in Art Lab Studios, once stationed in Normal Heights. Instant success drove him to pursue his artistic venture full time. When approached by the Little Italy Association to host his own show to raise money for Piazza Famiglia, Crawford agreed without hesitation.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m honored to support the Little Italy Association,\u201d he said. \u201cLittle Italy is one of San Diego\u2019s great urban neighborhoods and a perfect place to shoot photographs. The association has implemented wonderful changes to Little Italy and I\u2019ve worked diligently to capture its unique essence.\u201d<\/p>\n Marco Li Mandri, Little Italy Association\u2019s chief executive administrator, said he was excited to host Crawford\u2019s artwork as a fundraiser for Piazza Famiglia, the group\u2019s most enterprising project to date. The 10,000-square-foot public space slated for a 2017 spring opening will become the new heart of Little Italy. \u201cProjects like Piazza Familgia keep Little Italy one of the most coveted cultural communities in the nation, in a desirable, iconic location,\u201d Li Mandri said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Little Italy Association and its community are huge proponents of public art,\u201d said Chris Gomez, district manager for the association. \u201cThe \u2018minor magic\u2019 show invites a climate of professionals and collectors, as well as dedicated festival attendees, to visit Little Italy and enjoy an activity other than shopping and eating. Crawford\u2019s unique, edgy artistic designs offer a great opportunity to raise money for Little Italy\u2019s beautification.\u201d<\/p>\n Gomez described \u201cminor magic\u201d as thought-provoking, conversational artwork that is no easy feat. \u201cAnyone can be a point-and-click photographer but it takes a talented eye to raise the bar and recognize composition and the use of color and contrast. Crawford\u2019s work leads us to step back and question \u2018what is my eye seeing, what is my mind seeing and where can I see this in my home?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Crawford\u2019s show will exhibit original canvasses, prints and 2016 calendars that will list Little Italy\u2019s 2016 special events. Custom orders of prints will also be available. Fifty percent of \u201cminor magic\u201d sales will be donated to the Piazza Famiglia fund.<\/p>\n A private reception will be held on opening night on Saturday Nov. 21, from 6 \u2013 10 p.m. at the Little Italy Association office. The show will remain open to the public from Monday, Nov. 23, through Friday, Dec. 31, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment at 619-233-3898. \u00a0For more information, visit littleitalysd.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014Contact Lucia Viti at luciaviti@roadrunner.com.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por Luc\u00eda Viti<\/p>","protected":false},"author":796,"featured_media":249405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Let the \u2018minor magic\u2019 begin","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/796"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"This](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Velocipede_0331xx1webtop.jpg\")
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(Courtesy of Randy Crawford)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>