“commission pieces from

the local artist”

- Christopher Shoup

The Riverside Hospital Portfolio

“By trade

I am a

visual artist,

not a

fine arts

photographer.

I use the camera

to capture

visual material

for later use.

I do not use

Photoshop or any

other means of

digital manipulation.

I tile

what comes

from the field.”

“Thank you for the opportunity to fulfill the Riverside commission. I have four goals for this work.

I want it to inspire questions from the viewer. I want it to encourage discussion. I want it to

highlight the native plants of Illinois. And I want it to serve the hospital’s core goal of healing people.”

Christopher Shoup

Bradley, Illinois

www.chrisshoup.com

“black-eyed susans, in and out of

local the garden”

This piece features local and

regionally native black-eyed susans.

It is a comfortable image that

highlights a local wildflower garden

and details a native prairie flower

found living there within.

“study of black-eyed susans”

This piece features native black-eyed susans. It achieves the remarkable.

We are able to see underneath the flowers, we are able to see the flowers, and when we step back,

we can see the subtly bold colors and patterns of the work.

“illinois prairie eyelashes”

This piece features native purple coneflowers. The telephoto lens

used to compose the image drew the flowers into sharp focus and created an

impressionistic background of the field grasses. This is the sole piece in this portfolio

shot with my Canon AE1 35mm camera, which directly links this work to my earlier work.

“black-eyed susans against August bluestem”

This piece features native black-eyed susans against native bluestem grasses. Its four

complimentary circles match the four complimentary circles made with the purple coneflowers,

thus making each “Above Bench” piece comfortable and non-competitive.

I hope the highlighting of two native flowers encourages the viewer’s further interest in each.

View of L5 and L6.

View of L3 and L4.

“additional pieces”

As is always the case, the construction of this portfolio resulted in additional pieces. These additional works are

included here because I found each having strong merits, and thought each was worthy of being shown.

“black-eyed susans, softly”

“study of orange and yellow”

“black-eyed susans with Russian sage border”

“beginning a bluestem basket”

This piece features native

bluestem grasses set against a

pure blue sky.

It is a minimalistic yet

comfortable image that

hints at the fiber arts, as the

simple gathering of grasses seem

to be spinning into baskets.

“native bluestem blanket”

This piece features local and regionally native big bluestem grasses. Its solid edges frame a

view of a pale sky and help the image evoke the pattern and dimension of a native rug.