Vernon Chalmers Photography Studio and Lab

 A Comprehensive Reflective–Philosophical Analysis: In Vernon Chalmers’ photographic philosophy, the studio and lab are not separate technical environments but interdependent modes of experience and consciousness.

“Where presence becomes image, and every frame is a dialogue between light, rhythm, and legacy.” - Vernon Chalmers

"The photographic studio and photographic lab represent two foundational environments through which photographers create, interpret, and refine images. In the work of South African photographer, educator, and theorist Vernon Chalmers, these environments hold significance far beyond their functional roles. They form an integrated ecosystem of creative consciousness, technical mastery, phenomenological awareness, and reflective interpretation. This essay offers an academic exploration of Chalmers’ conceptualisation of the photographic studio and lab, examining their distinct yet interdependent contributions to artistic practice. The studio - primarily located within natural environments supporting Birds in Flight (BIF) photography - is interpreted as a dynamic, ecological field of perception and embodied engagement. The lab - centred on digital workflows, Canon DPP, Lightroom, and metadata interpretation - is understood as a contemplative site of analysis, refinement, and meaning construction. Drawing on photography theory, phenomenology, cognitive science, and Chalmers’ own published materials, the essay argues that the studio and lab form a dialectical unity within his broader Conscious Intelligence (CI) framework. Through this synthesis, Chalmers situates photography as a mode of experiential awareness that unfolds across presence, reflection, technology, and creative intention.

Introduction

Photography has always unfolded in multiple spaces - physical, cognitive, and technological. Traditionally, two of these spaces have been central: the studio, where images are captured, and the lab, where images are processed and interpreted (Freeman, 2017; Kelby, 2021). However, in contemporary practice—especially in wildlife and motion-based photography - these spaces acquire expanded philosophical meanings. Vernon Chalmers’ approach to Birds in Flight (BIF) photography and photographic education presents a nuanced understanding of these environments. He positions the studio not as a controlled indoor space, but as the natural environment in which perceptual readiness, sensory engagement, and embodied action converge. His lab operates not merely as a place of digital processing, but as a reflective and analytical domain where consciousness re-encounters the captured moment.

This expanded interpretation aligns with modern photographic theory, which situates image-making within an ecology of perception, memory, and technological mediation (Batchen, 2018; Barthes, 1981). For Chalmers, the studio embodies the photographer’s engagement with external reality; the lab embodies the internal reflective encounter with what that reality reveals. Together, they create a holistic framework for understanding how photographic meaning emerges.

This essay explores the depth of Chalmers’ studio - lab duality, integrating philosophical, technical, pedagogical, and cognitive dimensions. Through this reflective analysis, the studio and lab emerge as intertwined modes of photographic intelligence central to Chalmers’ artistic and educational practice.

The Photographic Studio in the Work of Vernon Chalmers

The Studio as Ecological Field

Although the word studio evokes images of controlled indoor environments, Chalmers redefines the studio as the natural habitat in which birds live, move, and interact. The studio becomes:

• the Milnerton lagoon at sunrise

• the Woodbridge Island estuary

• the wetlands of Cape Town

• shorelines, forests, and open skies

Ingold’s (2011) argument that creativity emerges from immersion in an environment rather than from controlling it directly supports this ecological framing. In this sense, Chalmers’ studio is a living system - a field of movement, weather patterns, atmospheric qualities, and behavioural rhythms.

Here, photographic creation depends on participation rather than control. The photographer becomes part of the environment’s unfolding, anticipating its changes and responding to them with bodily, perceptual, and technical agility.

Embodied Perception and Sensorimotor Intelligence

Merleau-Ponty’s (1962) theory of embodiment explains how perception arises not only from seeing but from the body’s movement in the world. Chalmers’ BIF photography requires this kind of embodied awareness. The studio - wind, light, flight paths, angles - demands:

• micro-adjustments of posture

• sweeping lens tracking movements

• rapid perceptual predictions

• muscular steadiness

• environmental attunement

Perception here is fundamentally active. Chalmers frequently emphasises “situational awareness” in his training notes (Chalmers, 2022), pointing to a form of sensorimotor intelligence that develops only through repeated engagement with outdoor photographic conditions.

A Studio of Contingency and Unpredictability

Chalmers’ studio environment is defined not by control, but by contingency. Birds exhibit unpredictable flight patterns. Wind direction changes. Clouds reshape light distribution. Tide cycles alter the movement pathway of feeding birds.

Rather than resisting this unpredictability, Chalmers views it as intrinsic to the creative process. The studio becomes an existential field where the photographer confronts the limits of control and embraces the emergent nature of the moment. This resonates with Sontag’s (1977) argument that photography is inherently tied to chance and timing.

Natural Light and the Aesthetic Conditions of the Studio

Unlike artificial studio photography, Chalmers’ work relies exclusively on natural light. For him, natural light is not merely illumination but a textured environmental phenomenon that:

• sculpts form

• influences exposure decisions

• creates reflective surfaces

• reveals atmospheric mood

The aesthetic dimension of Chalmers’ studio is therefore inseparable from meteorological and temporal variables. Morning light over the lagoon differs from late afternoon light on the vlei; misty conditions give rise to entirely different compositional possibilities. In this way, the studio becomes an aesthetic collaborator.

The Photographic Lab in the Work of Vernon Chalmers

The Lab as Interpretive Space

The photographic lab - historically the darkroom, now the digital editing environment - represents the phase of reflective interpretation. For Chalmers, the lab is where:

• the moment of capture becomes visible as artefact

• decisions made in the field are reconsidered

• images acquire coherence, structure, and clarity

Barthes’ (1981) concept of the separation of event from image applies here. The lab positions the photographer at a distance from the immediacy of the studio, enabling a reflective re-encounter with the captured scene.

Digital tools, including Canon DPP and Lightroom, become extensions of perception. They allow photographers to explore what the eye may not have fully grasped in the rapid perceptual flow of the studio experience.

Technical Fidelity and the Pursuit of Natural Accuracy

Chalmers’ approach to post-processing emphasises fidelity - the preservation of natural qualities. His workflow reflects industry best practices (Evening & Schewe, 2020), including:

• non-destructive RAW editing

• careful exposure correction

• minimalistic colour intervention

• detail-oriented sharpening

• noise reduction appropriate to ISO behaviour

This approach aligns with his educational philosophy: photography should remain grounded in authenticity and should not distort the natural conditions of the studio environment.

The Lab as Cognitive and Reflective Arena

The lab is not merely technical - it is philosophical. Chalmers uses the lab to revisit decisions made under the perceptual pressure of the field. Schön’s (1983) model of the reflective practitioner explains how professionals refine their expertise through cycles of reflection on and in action.

Chalmers’ lab allows this by creating:

• distance from the field experience

• space for critical self-evaluation

• opportunities to compare images

• analysis of gesture, wing position, or timing

• insights into behavioural patterns

In this way, the lab becomes a cognitive environment that strengthens future studio performance.

Memory, Technology, and the Reconstruction of the Moment

Digital post-production involves a triangulation between:

• the memory of the event

• the photographic file

• the technological tools guiding interpretation

Batchen (2018) describes this as photography’s “optical unconscious” - the capacity of images to reveal details that elude immediate perception. Chalmers’ lab therefore functions as a site where memory and technology collaborate to articulate meaning.

The Studio–Lab Relationship: A Dialectical Unity

Temporal Duality: The Event and the After-Event

Chalmers’ workflow highlights the temporal duality between:

• studio time: the moment of capture, fleeting and dynamic

• lab time: the moment of reflection, slow and analytical

Dewey’s (1934) conception of art as the integration of doing and undergoing parallels this duality. The studio is the doing; the lab is the undergoing.

Perceptual Modes: Intuition and Analysis

Kahneman (2011) distinguishes between fast and slow cognition:

• Studio work = System 1


• fast


• intuitive


• perceptual


• embodied


• Lab work = System 2


• slow


• deliberate


• critical


• analytical

Chalmers’ entire practice integrates these modes into a single form of photographic intelligence.

External Reality and Internal Interpretation

• The studio deals with external reality - birds, weather, light, movement.

• The lab deals with internal interpretation - meaning, value, coherence, narrative.

This creates a dynamic interplay: field experience informs lab decisions; lab insights reshape future field strategies.

Phenomenology and the Photographic Cycle

•  Phenomenologically, the studio is the lived world (Merleau-Ponty, 1962).
  
  
• The lab is the reflected world - a return to experience through artifact.

This cyclical process shapes Chalmers’ philosophical approach to photography, where existence, perception, and technology intersect.

Pedagogical Integration of Studio and Lab

Studio-Based Training

In Chalmers’ workshops, students learn:

• environmental positioning

• reading wind and light

• tracking subjects with telephoto lenses

• action-based anticipation

• exposure strategies for dynamic conditions

This cultivates what he calls “field readiness,” a skill set rooted in perceptual and bodily awareness.

Lab-Based Training

Chalmers’ editing curriculum teaches:

• structured RAW workflows

• exposure and tone correction

• colour interpretation

• sharpening and noise control

• file management and metadata literacy

Students learn not only how to adjust images, but how to interpret them.

Conscious Intelligence as Integrated Framework

Chalmers’ Conscious Intelligence (CI) framework links perceptual awareness and reflective awareness. In this framework:

• The studio develops conscious presence.

• The lab develops conscious comprehension.

Together, they produce a holistic photographic intelligence that empowers creative and technical mastery.

Conclusion

In Vernon Chalmers’ photographic philosophy, the studio and lab are not separate technical environments but interdependent modes of experience and consciousness. The studio - expanded into the natural world - becomes a space of ecological immersion, perceptual anticipation, and embodied creativity. The lab becomes a reflective domain in which the image is analysed, interpreted, and refined with intellectual and technical care.

Together, these environments generate a cyclical process of creation, interpretation, and learning central to Chalmers’ work as a photographer, educator, and theorist. They form a dialectical unity that mirrors deeper philosophical structures: presence and reflection, perception and meaning, spontaneity and control, environment and technology.

By situating the studio and lab within a broader framework of Conscious Intelligence, Chalmers contributes to a contemporary understanding of photography as an integrated practice of awareness - embodied in the field, reconstructed in the lab, and unified through reflective, intentional artistic engagement." (Source: ChatGPT 2025)

References

Barthes, R. (1981). Camera lucida: Reflections on photography. Hill and Wang.

Batchen, G. (2018). Photography and the optical unconscious. MIT Press.

Chalmers, V. (2022). Birds in Flight Photography Training Notes.

Chalmers, V. (2023). Reflections on Post-Processing and Photographic Awareness.

 Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. Perigee Books.

Evening, M., & Schewe, J. (2020). Digital photography best practices. Photoshop Press.

Freeman, M. (2017). The photographer’s vision. Ilex Press.

 Ingold, T. (2011). Being alive: Essays on movement, knowledge and description. Routledge.

 Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

 Kelby, S. (2021). The digital photography book. Rocky Nook.

 Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. Routledge.

 Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.

 Sontag, S. (1977). On photography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.*