About Frederick Ballet

“It has been said that the true subject of the photograph is the photographer.” Frederick Ballet grew up in Brooklyn, NY and from an early age was fascinated with the natural world. Keenly interested in biology and comparative anatomy, Ballet attended college, medical school, and after graduation and post doctoral training became a Hand Surgeon. During his career, he married, had twin boys, became a grandfather, built a wooden sailboat and earned a 3rd degree black belt in karate. His photography as a teenager was limited to taking pictures of landscapes and zoo animals on an Olympus film camera. His dad had a passing interest in photography and they worked in the darkroom together. Family and work commitments limited his available time. Now a retired surgeon, Ballet returns to his passion of photography, interested in abstract landscapes and the effects of human activity on the environment, looking to capture movement, color, light, power, and immortality of nature. In September 2018, he became the first student to earn the Contemporary Practices Photography Certificate at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center. His work can be seen by appointment and at select galleries, shows, and business establishments. 

New Brunswick Art Salon 2020 – Photography: “Moments of Focus”

He takes photos of these abstract landscapes at different times of the year, showing the viewer how the same location can change over seasons and through time. His goal is to leave the viewer with a meditative sense of beauty, peace, and timelessness. This can be seen in Eternal Shore or BD3-35, where the contrasting yet gentle movements and pastel–like colors harmonize to create a sense of tranquility.  

New Brunswick Art Salon 2021 – Photography: “Shifted Nature””

Through his work he is showing the limitless abundance of the nature’s variety. Common theme of his photographs is beach yet on each picture the beach is different. Very delicate play of light and color walk the viewer through the world of artist’s dream world.

 

Artist Personal Website: www.frederickballetphotography.com
 
 

Artist Statement

The beauty of the natural world has always filled me with an existential fascination. As a young boy, I would often go down to the sea, never disappointed in her embrace of peaceful solitude. I now revel in capturing her special moments of equanimity, movement, color, light, power, and immortality. In my work, I seek to balance realism with abstraction, at times capturing the surreal. My favorite images give the viewer the smallest anchor of reality, leaving the rest to the imagination. Of recent I started to include impressionistic images of the natural world including man’s impact on it. My goal remains the same, for the viewer to leave with a meditative sense of beauty, peace, and timelessness.

Artist Interview