Paul Snell: Entering a State of Meditative Clarity Between Capturing and Creating Born in 1968 in Australia, Paul Snell explores the intersection of abstraction and minimalism within contemporary photographic media. Holding a master’s degree in fine art from the University of Tasmania, he currently lives and works in Australia. Snell’s works evoke a sense of meditative tranquility. His creative process begins with capturing specific locations or objects, followed by digitally "decoding" the visual information. Through a meticulous process of simplifying colors and forms, he then "re-encodes" the imagery into refined compositions where individual elements establish new relationships. This approach blurs the line between photography as an act of “taking” versus “making.” Once digitally composed, his images are transformed into chromogenic prints, a technique that renders vivid colors and rich luminosity on metallic paper. His work has been exhibited extensively in Australia and the U.S. and is included in several institutional collections, including ArtBank, Devonport Regional Gallery, Burnie Regional Gallery, and Justin House Museum.