Reed Hearne: Abstract Photography Redefining Everyday Forms

Reed Hearne is an American artist, photographer, and fiction writer born in Phoenix, Arizona. He moved to San Francisco at age 19, where he earned a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of San Francisco and an MA in English from San Francisco State University, including an internship at La Mammelle Gallery. After focusing on writing in the 1990s and early 2000s, publishing a dozen short stories, he shifted to digital art photography around the mid-2010s. He returned to Arizona in 2007 and has since built a career with awards starting from 2016, including exhibitions at The Praxis Gallery and FOCUS Photo LA. Key milestones include developing his self-taught digital manipulation process and gaining international recognition through juried shows. His work features vibrant, colourful palettes with dynamic patterns and geometric shapes that transform mundane subjects.

• Primary Genres: Abstract, Conceptual
• Primary Photography Style: Expressionism (photo expressionism with fluid, dynamic forms and vibrant colours); Conceptual (abstract interpretations emphasising pattern, geometry, and texture)
• Key Message: Reed Hearne uses photography to transform ordinary subjects into abstract digital art, challenging viewers to abandon labels and discover hidden beauty, intrigue, and contemplative elements through a focus on colour, form, and relationships inspired by art history.

Reed Hearne’s most common subjects are everyday elements like staircases, bridges, landscapes, shadows, and reflections, which he reframes to uncover hidden dimensions. His unique aesthetic centres on vibrant reds, blues, yellows, and other bold hues, creating fluid, painterly effects with textured elements that evoke dynamic patterns and geometric intrigue. Techniques involve capturing images digitally without preconceived plans, using natural or found light to enhance geometry and form. Editing plays a central role, with extreme digital manipulation through a self-developed process of layering and adjusting elements—no AI involved—to produce lush, abstract finishes that defy recognition. Presentation includes archival pigment prints on fine art paper, often in large sizes for gallery display, shared via online platforms like his website and Rise Art, as well as physical exhibitions in places such as Minneapolis and New York.

For intermediate photographers, Hearne’s style illustrates how abstract photography can blend expressionism and conceptual approaches, using digital tools to manipulate reality in ways film cannot easily replicate. Digital allows for extensive post-processing, like layering multiple exposures to build complexity, whereas film demands more upfront planning due to its fixed chemistry and limited adjustments. Learners can start by photographing ordinary objects with a focus on shapes and colours, then experiment in software to blur edges and punch hues, practising how these changes shift viewer perception from literal to interpretive.

His educational value lies in showing that abstraction comes from reseeing the familiar, encouraging a mindset where composition prioritises relationships between elements over subject identity. By avoiding sharp focus and embracing fluidity, photographers can create works that invite contemplation, much like Hearne’s pieces that ignite imagination and question assumptions.

Lessons from this Photographer:

Hearne’s approach highlights the power of digital manipulation to turn ordinary captures into abstract expressions, teaching photographers to let go of literal representations and explore form and colour for emotional impact. His process encourages starting without a fixed vision, using post-processing to layer and refine elements, which intermediate shooters can apply by experimenting with software tools to discover unexpected compositions. This mindset shift fosters deeper appreciation of photography as art, inspiring users to reframe everyday scenes and challenge viewers through geometry and texture.

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