The cracks, colours and movement of the urban landscape are captured in abstract artist and photographer Ingrid Shakenovsky’s first solo exhibition, The Street is Your Gallery.

The result is an emotional juxtaposition of rusty bicycles, decrepit buildings, recycled garbage, the passing parade of people, notice boards, graffiti and wall art. Her debut two-part show features scenes from Sydney, Melbourne and other parts of the world.

In one section, she uses an emerging technique known as intentional camera movement to create dramatic abstracts out of real-world scenes. The other section is a vibrant study of graffiti around the world, from Bondi to Barcelona, Tel Aviv to Johannesburg and several cities in-between. “I enjoy the thrill of capturing honest everyday scenes and moments, turning the real world into the abstract and the abstract into the realistic,” she says.

Her intention is to make photographic art that resembles real life and turns coincidental collections of urban paraphernalia into photographic works that verge on the abstract. “The pictures I have chosen for this exhibition are emotional and authentic. They move me,” says Shakenovsky. “The pieces I have chosen for the exhibition are bright and easy to look at. I find that they are great conversation starters. They are ideal for living spaces at home or for boardrooms and corner offices.”

Shakenovsky, the mother of four children, has been fascinated by art and photography since she was a child. After qualifying as a teacher, she started a successful art school in Johannesburg and for the past 21 years has been a sought-after special events photographer in Sydney. “I am attracted to street art, collections of stuff, noticeboards, rubbish, architecture, shadows, reflections, grids and lines as well as the natural environment. I interpret what I see in a style that amounts to painting with my camera and reflecting the colours and movement of our world. Our lives constantly flow. The pace can be frenetic. I endeavour to reflect this and juxtapose human perceptions of our world with the reality.”

Curator Pascale Rajek will show Ingrid’s works at The Space Gallery from 21 May. “The Street is Your Gallery is opening a window to the everyday unnoticeable art and making it a statement about beauty, life and expression,” she says.

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