Photo Sensitive Epilepsy

Richard Baldwin was born in the small dusty town of Walgett in outback Australia, known for its location at the junction of two rivers and its flat landscape. Although generally a good boy Richard was prone to episodes of misbehavior. This is how his career as a visual artist began; dressed in his best clothes for the important occasion of his brother’s birth, Baldwin took the black paint from the laundry and painted the outhouse and himself in a style resembling the work of Franz Kline. A few years later whilst still a child, Richard was diagnosed with a form of Photo- Sensitive epilepsy. This explains his attraction to both pattern and photography. In 1984 he completed an exhibition titled “If it Fits”, an important show for Baldwin. Mostly self portraits, part documentary and expressionist, the show was the basis for Neurological Expressionism -stimulating neurological responses during the moment of exposure using light patterns. Neurological Expressionism includes aspects of parody, satire and light sensitivity. Baldwin is currently working on a series of images focusing on the performance and self-portraiture in the context photography.