Fine Art Photography Masterclass: 3D Techniques with Sandy McLea (Part 2)

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Welcome back. This is part two of my conversation with remarkable fine art photographer Sandy Mccle. If you've not yet watched part one, I would strongly encourage you to do so before continuing. You will find the link below. This conversation builds directly on everything we discussed in the first video. And without that foundation, you'll be joining the story halfway through. For those of you who are up to date, today is exciting. Today we go inside the idol quarters collection. The collection that took Sandy Mccle from a local conversation to international acclaim. And Sandy has done something today that he very rarely does. He has brought in an idol quarters piece completely disassembled layer by layer to show you exactly how he builds these extraordinary pieces of work. And trust me, you want to stay for this. So without any further delay, let's get right into it. [music] I remember you calling me into your studio. I came to have a visit and you said, "I want to show you something uh that I'm busy with." And when you showed me what you were busy with, I realized this is now um just the result of so much input and so much um experimentation. I mean, the same Sandy Mccle who decided he's not going to do fashion and glamour. the same Sandy Mccle who started to print out compositions because he didn't want uh you know um telegraph poles or pylons in the background. the same Sandy McCle that brought me the little penguins that uh almost ended our friendship you know and here this suddenly there was this work and and again it will be in the video so but I don't think you will ever get an appreciation for what you're looking unless you see it in in in reality but >> yes that that that is true the the series you called Idol quarters and this series and you can explain just now a little bit about these rooms and and and the way you built them, but it was this series that took you into a different price bracket. It took you into international. You started to get shows internationally with this and this whole journey was starting to become such an exciting space. Tell me about how I quarters turned up straight after or in between the painted street series.

[00:02:49]There's one thing I always like to tell people if I'm trying to teach them something about just creating stuff and it's taking years of the craziest ideas you have >> and all the stuff you develop, all the skills you develop. And I think it's like it's a it's a journey that you're on and you learn so many different things and a way there'll be there comes a moment where you need to do something and you realize that you've learned all these things from paper tolling to collaging and decopaging uh hand painting bending paper editing photography everything. And then there comes a moment where you see something like how do I get this message through?

[00:03:42]And just having a toolbox, a skill set for yourself allows you to do something crazy. And I think that's what's important is just allowing yourself to be completely open with with what you have in in your uh skills or your disposal in your skills.

[00:04:06]And when I when I went to go shoot that, I didn't know how I was going to execute it. I knew the subject matter >> and I had a pre predetermined idea. And one thing you always taught me is like when you go somewhere, don't predetermine or preconceive what it's going to be like cuz it always lands up different. Exactly.

[00:04:28]>> You're going to go shoot something, you get there, it changes. So I but I had >> a rough idea of of what I wanted to do.

[00:04:35]I knew I wanted to do a panoramic.

[00:04:37]>> And I walked in there. But hold on before you walk in there. You headed off to Ghost Town.

[00:04:44]>> That's where you So you went to southern Namibia.

[00:04:46]>> Yeah.

[00:04:47]>> Um man's corp, >> a little town called Cooh's man's corp, which was a deserted uh village >> where some of the rooms and that have been left to the elements of the sand and the >> Yeah.

[00:05:00]>> that's where you went for this series >> and u and you can pick it up from there.

[00:05:05]>> Yeah. So I had been there before when I was very young um before I even picked up a camera >> and it was a quick visit and it stayed my mind and I was like I need to get I need to go back to that place now that >> I I can capture it.

[00:05:23]>> Um so I went there and when I got there it was different and I and I stood there and I actually didn't know what to do.

[00:05:32]>> I was like I'm going to shoot this and like but >> like stay for it. Yeah, it's like stage right, but it's also there's whole everything I learned when I when I speak about the story about something like there's a story to tell and I was like I can't take a picture. I need to tell a story.

[00:05:50]>> And the story about that place was >> for me it was the atmosphere. You know, you got this whole history and this the the dunes coming through into the rooms.

[00:06:01]You have the slow decay of the paint and the patas >> and what it does is it creates an atmosphere. I was like, how do I >> how do I get an atmosphere?

[00:06:12]>> How do you capture atmosphere?

[00:06:15]>> And I mean in photography that's we you tried that the whole time. That's one of the main things.

[00:06:19]>> I mean those rooms were ghostly silent.

[00:06:22]>> Yes. I mean >> I mean you you'd go in some parts and you'd actually be nervous. It'd be like you would hear something and you'd be like is is >> so that very same I'm going to just interrupt you here before you could tell you that that very same place and some of those very same rooms which is very popular amongst photographers that trip I mentioned to you up the west coast into Namibia also we stopped off there but my approach there was was pure photographic funny enough I decided not to go down the Montage Galage route there but I remember the deafening silence I just enjoyed the you mentioned patas and textures. That's what I enjoyed about that place. So, please pick it up from there.

[00:07:04]>> Yeah. So, the one thing is like I didn't know how to do I didn't know what I was going to do.

[00:07:11]>> So, I shot it with um multiple images and did a stitch. So, traditional single image stitch >> and I crack I captured as much as atmosphere as I could. So, I would almost do 360° on some of them, 180°, 270°, >> and that's panoramic.

[00:07:34]>> Panoramics. Yeah, panoramic stitching.

[00:07:36]Um, you're a tripod and you do multiple stitches and that >> and I thought that that would be that would be a good way to capture everything.

[00:07:45]>> Yes.

[00:07:45]>> And get my composition and get the colors and the light and everything. And then I went back with the idea that I could use I'm going to use some of my my skills, but I didn't know what to I didn't know what to do. And I I started making mock-ups of them >> that used this was the urban facade.

[00:08:06]>> This is where urban facade comes in. So I'm like, how do I mix urban facade into this?

[00:08:12]>> And you know, I wasn't going to be doing paper tolling cuz there's nothing really to toll. It was just it's such a huge scene and part of urban facad was I I I I shifted the buildings.

[00:08:26]>> Okay.

[00:08:27]>> But now I had had this strange distortion from from doing a panoramic and I had to find new skills. So I had to develop a few techniques >> in bending uh prints. I I remember seeing some of the walls that were that were were >> b like there's physical curvature. So there's you have this optical curvature >> from the camera lens and then you have a physical curvature and they had to play together. So >> correct >> there was a lot of trial and error >> uh in trying to build these and then also finding a way to interlock them and connect them. Yeah.

[00:09:05]>> So, in essence, I was breaking the whole image down into a puzzle, a 3D I was photoshopping a 3D puzzle and then rebuilding it into a into a physical room. I mean th those artworks I mean what are we talking one some of them were like almost a meter wide.

[00:09:22]>> Yeah. Some were and and they were deep but it felt like you in the room.

[00:09:28]>> Yeah. there was an extra depth to it >> cuz you had the you have the >> you know you have uh the perspective and conjoining lines and the depth of photography visually and then you have a >> physical depth and they kind of added on to each other. So people would always look at the frame and be like but well the frame is like this but the picture is that how does that work?

[00:09:49]>> Yeah. But you you took it even further because you started adding lighting.

[00:09:52]>> Yes. And I mean that was and not and you know tastefully done just a light flicker of a light bulb about to end its life in the back room. I mean you know and and you had you had the the skills to be able to put that together and I mean that was it's just incredible. So you know our clients were saying that they could take this put it up on their wall and in the evening cuz it's you know it runs off batteries. I think you had rechargeable batteries so you didn't have cables.

[00:10:24]>> We went through a few iterations but yeah and there you know you felt this was a living >> artwork a living room. I mean that really, as I say, this series took you to just another space and you did a lot of embellishing >> cuz I remember where the paper was joining. You actually painted in certain areas. And >> how long does it uh or how long does it or how long did it take you to make one of those?

[00:10:52]>> I think the the long ones take 100 hours.

[00:10:55]>> Okay.

[00:10:56]>> So, and the smaller ones, you know, half the time. So, but 100 hours.

[00:11:01]>> Okay. We worked it out which was which is long for a photograph.

[00:11:06]>> Yeah.

[00:11:07]>> The the main thing though I just want to like say is that the idea really was capturing atmosphere.

[00:11:16]>> Yes.

[00:11:17]>> And and story.

[00:11:19]>> Yeah.

[00:11:19]>> So create capturing atmosphere the best way to do it for me was simply creating atmosphere and building atmosphere. And that's where the threedimensional thing comes in. So if you you build the atmosphere, you capture atmosphere. And >> and still today, >> I mean, I don't like to float my own boat, but >> you know, I really enjoy finishing it, putting it in a frame, and I look at these pieces and I understand why I do them. And they just have that >> they have that presence, >> you know, they portray a presence and a story and a feeling.

[00:11:56]And you know when we when we take a photograph and we show someone a photograph, it's almost like I wish you were here >> moment.

[00:12:04]>> Yes.

[00:12:05]>> And so for me, these are my best pieces where they show best of you are here.

[00:12:13]>> Yes.

[00:12:14]>> You with me.

[00:12:14]>> You with me. This is what I felt. And the feeling of this eerie room and the space of this room, >> I want you to feel it as well. um and comes back to what Freeman said as well in the discussion. You'll see it. It's uh it's in the lineup to come out on the on the um on the studio progression of our interviews where he's also saying it's all about what you want to say. Why are you creating the art? What is the reason? What what is that underlying reason why? Not how, but why? I mean, you tackled both, but at least you knew what you wanted to get. And uh and I think again, yeah, just being able to work together over this long period of time. Um it's so good to look back on these on this on this journey. I mean, you know, the um just coming back to the workshop that you gave that we all get influenced by one another. We do. And uh and >> um I decided I was going to try. You remember?

[00:13:19]>> I mean, yeah. cuz you you you know like I was getting hands on and you were also at the same time exploring and getting hands-on >> and experimenting and you would show me your things >> and I remember walking into to your photographic studio and every year it looked more like an art studio did to it's like paint and glues on the wall and so on and I remember you also mentioned to me that you had you had come up with something >> and you were excited to show me and you were like I I'm not going to tell you everything and then and um I think it was called King Kings and >> Kings and Queens.

[00:14:00]>> Kings and Queens is a series of fallen iconic music heroes who were no longer with us which needed to be embellished and brought back to life. Do you remember I think the very first one I showed you was was my impression of Elvis.

[00:14:16]>> Elvis didn't like it at all. So I went and redid it but it's was a combination of the paint you used in your uh collaging process that you came up with in that workshop and then I decided to take the fact that you layering one on top of the other. I decided to lift even if it's just one or two elements and then to use photographic lighting to bring it to life.

[00:14:42]>> You had an interesting process very interesting where you would refo art.

[00:14:48]Yes, >> you you would make an artwork, refograph it, and that photograph would become another artwork. So, you have this >> amazing >> step by step, >> step by step, and when you looked at it, you were like you you almost want to touch it to select is what's what's paint here? And it's cuz you got you got paint and a photograph of paint.

[00:15:07]>> Yeah. Exactly right. And then the lighting brought the shadows to it. And suddenly without the shadows, it didn't it didn't really work. But with the shadows, the texture started to >> But you felt you felt like the amount of freedom you get is amazing to just to just like build up and build up and and take an image to >> to this new expression that you want to have. And I think you know um as we walked along road together the difficulty that I found was wanting to express having every intention to take it into a different space >> but then having that commercial thing saying will it work in the gallery will people connect with it and I almost wish I could start this career again and say I don't actually care what people think.

[00:15:56]Yeah. I I'd love to be in that space where you can say well no I'm gonna explore the boundaries as far as I can and that's what happened in Idol quarters for you >> is that you took it to a space that you had reached the point where it was those works you can see you created for yourself and I congratulate you for that.

[00:16:15]>> Thank you >> and um yeah I congratulate you for that.

[00:16:19]I I would like to if you've got some time just go through and have a look at some of your work just so that we we can just see because again on what we've shown now people don't get the idea but maybe we can just get some idea of of what you've you've actually done and uh and then uh we can close the conversation.

[00:16:41]>> So Sandy this is uh an example of your first body of work.

[00:16:47]>> Yeah. So, um, here you've photographed in sections, and I wanted to talk about that in a moment. And then you've put it together with very specific alignment. Um, by the way, I see this is one of your first >> printers proofs right in the beginning.

[00:17:07]I see that it's taken a bashing of >> marked. It has been manhandled. Yes.

[00:17:12]>> Okay. So, this has been around a while.

[00:17:14]But um before we even start on how you did it, this is this is one of your favorites out of about 20 odd different uh pieces.

[00:17:22]>> Yeah, this is my favorite. This is the one I fell in love with and keep and keep an addition for myself.

[00:17:27]>> And also what's interesting is I know you've uh and I we will show it to the viewers, but you've done some color as well, but you've done mostly desaturated um color.

[00:17:38]>> Yeah, the majority of the series Yeah.

[00:17:40]is very desaturated. I wanted to keep the narration of the story >> more focused than having lots of colors.

[00:17:50]>> So, if you could just take us through uh your approach, so how you would actually photograph it um and then maybe talk a little bit about uh the alignment of especially the horizontal light.

[00:18:03]>> Yes. So, I'd find these scenes and you know, I'd fall in love with them. I'd walk down for here. walk down this um what's it called again? A jetty or a water break and again I always try to create a story. So within this scene, I would photograph up to 50 images and then I would capture so many different parts of it and I'd go home and I'd have this array of different images and I'd be playing with it each one individually and it would almost grow on the screen and I'd come back and visit it even a week later.

[00:18:42]>> But the key element for me was to keep a visual point consistent. And even though I was able to mess around and let the eye fill in the rest of the parts, >> I would let it I would let it find itself and it would create its own balance, but I would keep a horizontal line.

[00:19:03]>> Mhm. And then I would connect critical points >> in each photograph, >> but I would never let it be perfect because I wanted to have each one separate.

[00:19:18]>> And that would be like having steps and walking past a scene >> and telling a story. I remember you telling me once, and forgive me if I'm wrong, but you said that you would print out little postcards, let them lay there, reassemble them, keep reassembling them until you lived with it for a while before you started to put your final assembly together. Yeah. Each one could take weeks >> and sometimes I was just never happy and I'd put it aside >> in the drawer, >> come back later, >> and then it would be replacing one of these and then it would work and then I'd be happy.

[00:19:54]>> Well, Beautiful. Let's uh let's take you to the second piece. I'm going to go get it quickly. I see we in a for a treat today cuz you brought us what many people probably would never seen and this includes your collectors and that's a disassembled piece of idle quarters.

[00:20:15]>> Yes. Have I got it the right way around?

[00:20:17]>> Yeah, you do. Okay. So yeah, this one gives the way the odd secret of how I put it together. Okay, there you go. And you know, so what happens it starts from one image and then in Photoshop I break it up into a puzzle. So and you know we could have between 50 to 100 different pieces.

[00:20:41]>> Okay.

[00:20:41]>> Uh depending on the work >> and then >> well let's go right to the background then.

[00:20:46]>> Yeah. I want to start by showing our viewers the curvature of the paper especially with the foreground. Uh I say most people don't even you know they appreciate the art but they don't know how you get there. So just have a look here the four I just want to talk about the bending. So I don't know Sam can you see that?

[00:21:07]>> Yeah. And the depth. So that would be the maximum depth of the image.

[00:21:11]>> Yes. So that will give you the rolling feel of the the dunes and the sand in the foreground. And then if we take it, let's stand it up a little like that.

[00:21:21]And maybe you can take us through some of the assembly.

[00:21:24]>> Yeah. So what I do is I always start most of the pieces I start with the sand >> and create that as a foundation and then work from there.

[00:21:33]>> And we start from the back to the front.

[00:21:36]And then the back section, what I do is I actually photograph separate images >> um when I'm there in the on the >> So in other words, you go into the other room.

[00:21:47]>> I would walk in the doorway and and shoot that room.

[00:21:50]>> So you've got a you've got the the room to build on.

[00:21:53]>> So you got all the information there and then close up. So when you when you view this work, you can actually see down inside or down a passage or in a room.

[00:22:02]And I mean later you started to light those rooms because you wanted the background to be a little bit lighter.

[00:22:08]So you started to put lights inside the room >> or keep it really realistic and control and correct the contrast cuz you would lose it from the shadows of the panels.

[00:22:17]So the lights went in and >> and captured that atmosphere. And then what I do is I have this curvature to them cuz we have the converging lines from photography and then we added the actual bending of the of the paper. So that would >> giving away a lot of your secrets here.

[00:22:36]But um have a look at the intricacy of the joining. So this guy has got the patience of a saint. He he cuts out every single one of the little flanges and then he cuts out then the corresponding um spaces where they must go in. So let's put this in. Hook it in as if as if it's uh where you want it.

[00:23:00]>> I'll do this with one hand. That's >> no problem. And then if you look at if I then Yeah. Okay. If you bring that up and bend it like you get >> now you start to get that idea. You can already see how it starts to weave its way into a 3D impression. And then I remember you this join was never perfect for you. So you used to paint that back in.

[00:23:23]>> Yes.

[00:23:24]>> Yeah.

[00:23:25]>> Yeah. Cuz when you cut paper there's always a bit of white.

[00:23:28]>> Yes.

[00:23:28]>> So then I color match that.

[00:23:30]>> Yeah.

[00:23:31]>> With watercolors and I color match every single side of the paper >> before they get and afterwards.

[00:23:38]>> And afterwards.

[00:23:39]>> Yeah. Unbelievable.

[00:23:42]Unbelievable. So, yes, something that I don't think many of your collectors have seen. I don't think many of your followers have seen. And I think it it's one thing talking about it in an interview space. It's another thing seeing it as a photograph, but it's another thing seeing it in person. And I can promise you when these are assembled and they're in this beautiful frame box, >> uh, and they're on the wall and the little lighting's going on, they are just a joy to behold.

[00:24:14]>> Congratulations, Sandy. Yeah, this is really special and I can't wait to see some of the new pieces you're going to be finishing.

[00:24:20]>> So, I congratulate you for that, Sandy.

[00:24:23]Well done. And >> thank you, Martin.

[00:24:24]>> And I think uh, as I said right in the beginning, this discussion was way overdue.

[00:24:30]I um I know my students love montaging and collaging and uh and a lot has been influenced by our journey. So uh they would enjoy watching this video and meeting you now, you know, in person.

[00:24:46]And uh I have to ask the question uh where to from here? Uh are you are you still sticking with idle quarters to finish that off before you go anywhere else or have you got something new? Yes, I'm still sticking with idle quarters. I think um w with with the subject matter it's it's it stays with Coleman's Corp and maybe a few special places um >> and then you know find another special place um overseas or something >> and try get some international subject matter >> maybe as well. But as it comes to a technique, um, idle quarters is pretty much my trademark and is my it's who I am.

[00:25:37]>> Well, good.

[00:25:37]>> So, I'll be staying with that.

[00:25:39]>> Good. And I'm so pleased to be speaking to a artist who uses the camera as part of a process as opposed to sitting here talking to you about your fashion and glamour photography. So, congratulations.

[00:25:52]>> Me, too.

[00:25:53]>> Thanks very much, Martin. And yeah and also thank you for being there in all the steps that I have taken. Absolute pleasure. Thank you. Thank you for being here for both parts of this discussion.

[00:26:09]If you enjoyed this video and like to stay connected, please sign up for the Osna Studio at you'll receive early notice on upcoming discussions and conversations just like this. stories behind celebrated artworks and discussions on the techniques that make certain work truly extraordinary. You'll find the link below. And if you enjoyed photo collage and photo montage and would like to learn more, remember I teach fine art photography at the Art Photography Academy and I'd love to see you there. I'll also put the links below. And [music] very important, coming up next week, I'll be speaking to an internationally acclaimed photographic artist, creative thinker, and author, Freeman Patterson. [music] You really don't want to miss this one.

[00:26:58]So, as always, stay creative. Why?

[00:27:02]Because it's just good for you. Until next week. Cheers, everyone.

[00:27:11]>> [music]