Portraits | photo

The basis of the work and the main concept of the art of James H. Soul is to recover old photographic techniques and the entire process from the photo session, the development of negatives and the enlargement of the photographs in the laboratory. After painting and writing over the enlargements, a long process of creating ideas and concepts ends with Women as their main axis, often represented as Goddesses of nature, in others as protectors of Life and, above all, a fundamental part of the Family, as perceived in the recent work "Life on the Wall". James places great emphasis on the importance of his strength, his leadership, his magnetism and energy.

The use of different techniques and materials are always present, although Gold is the most used for its beauty and warmth. The influences in his works are very diverse and range from Roman and Greek art, to classical music, pop art, punk, the seventh art, etc... some of his most recent works have managed to transform dark characters from Purgatory into stars of rock.

The process involved, particularly in the case of private works, is very homely and natural. When a client calls for a portrait of himself, James and his team go over to the customer’s house to look for the most appropriate place for the photographic session to take place. While his assistants prepare the set, James, the client and his family share a moment together. In this time, James and the client get to know each other and James can think and decide the best way to make the portrait. In fact, all that is said during this shared moments will be used by James to write notes, make sketches and drawings and he will later on resort to this material when working on the final canvass. After the photo-shooting it is time to develop the film plates, enlarge the photo that has been selected in the lab and, last of all, to paint and write on the photo using watercolours, pencils, ink, gold, palette knives, etc, resorting to several techniques. In approximately 2 months the process ends and the customer receives at his home address the finished, framed work, together with a warranty certificate.

This works with this models follows the same process.