Photographer Mel Felix has a rebellious streak. He likes to break the rules. It’s an urge he’s had his whole life, but fortunately he keeps his rule breaking to his artwork.
With a background in advertising design and marketing, Felix made a career of staying within the lines, so to speak. Now that his art is created purely from his own vision and creative spirit, he likes to tinker with what’s supposed to be, such as “The Rule of Thirds,” which suggests that a design or photographic piece should be divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. The important subjects in the image should be placed along the lines or where they intersect. A subject, according to this “rule,” wouldn’t sit directly in the middle of picture, because, the reasoning goes, such alignment creates a more interesting composition.
Felix doesn’t buy it.
“It bothered me from the day I took my first art class at the age of 18 or 19,” he said.
So if Felix likes a certain composition in his photography, he doesn’t let rules stop him—though not everyone agrees with his practice when they see his work.
“I remember once getting a review from a judge and it said, ‘It would be better if he used the Rule of Thirds,’” Felix remembered. “People will say, ‘You can’t do that; you can’t put everything right in the middle.’”
Felix will do it anyway. One of his favorite pieces features three rowboats centered in the photo. He did something similar with Three Windmills.
He also likes to infuse his work with a bit of a “painterly look,” he said. But he’s always careful not to over process his pieces so as to stay true to their photographic nature.
Felix’s favorite pieces from his 15-year career are on display for November, as are his Rule of Thirds-breaking photos and a variety of other photos at the Town Center Gallery in “Fifteen Years of Fine Art Photography, a Retrospective.”
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The show includes images from Felix’s Southwest suite, hand-colored black-and-white photographs, the best from his Tuscany and Spain collections, and Central Coast wine country and still-life imagery.
Since moving to Santa Maria seven years ago, Felix has been an active member of the art community. He encourages involvement and support of the arts because, without such attention, he says, it will never flourish.
He has contributed photographs to the Santa Maria Valley Wine Country Association and is the current vice president of the Town Center Gallery. His work has been on display at local banks, restaurants, art shows, and wine tasting rooms, including the Historic Santa Maria Inn wine cellar.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone’s stories follow the Rule of Thirds. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2011.