After the Camera

Thom Rouse seems to have an unbridled artistic sensibility. In this book, he offers up for review sixty of his favorite fine-art images. Rouse takes photographers behind the scenes of his creative process, showing the starting point—always a portrait, captured by him—and then details the Photoshop tools and techniques he used and, sometimes, some “accessory” images that he adds into the mix, to create a dramatically different work of art. While the components and tone of each image vary from page to page, Rouse strictly maintains that his creative process is based on the idea that each work of art must, at its core, remain photographic. In other words, his fine-art works are enhanced, stylized portraits that transcend the limits typically self-imposed by portrait artists. His goal in creating the book is to educate and inspire other photographers—or, in the words of the artist—to “show you something you haven’t seen before.”

This book features a collection of beautiful portraits that collide with a strange collections of elements—one portrait, entitled Shhhh, is coupled with ornamental wooden fish, goose wings, and parts of an aircraft; another, called Andromeda, uses complex Photoshop blending techniques and texture layers to create a Gustav Klimt-inspired feel in the photograph—to create a storytelling piece that elevates the portrait to a fine art category. On page after page, you’ll discover how Rouse conceptualized the featured work of art, the steps he took to bring the concept to life, and the curiously beautiful artistic portrait result.