Let us not forget...

I recently completed a project on photographing a subculture. And yes the so to say subculture I chose some might consider very incorporated into our daily lives that people see them as part of society and not as a sub part like the word subculture might imply. Where I live little shops exist that are usually run by older ladies who sell home baked goods, pickled little things and pancakes to go. They tend to be taken for granted but are vanishing as we speak because lager corporations such as supermarkets also tend to sell these "home made" goods today and because of the tricky little word "convenience" the average consumer tends to not go the extra mile (mile here refers to a distance of about 10 meters within the same centre) to buy real honest produce from a tuisnywerheid. This is sad. By choosing these ladies, or rather tannies, as my subjects I want to create awareness of the issues and problems these little shops are facing in today's mass consumer orientated society that slowly but surely takes away the chance these micro industries have on the market.

Here an image I took that is part of a 5 piece series about tuisnywerheid ladies in Pretoria.

The experience of talking to these ladies and their passion for what they do is absolutely wonderful. Some of them told me they specifically support older ladies who lost their husband in order for them to make a little extra money on the side. They talked about big supermarkets as their competition and how so many shops have vanished over the past years. But one thing I noticed in all the shops I visited... there is so much pride, pride of true home baked cakes and little tarts, of jams and pickles, of savory pies and traditional vetkoek and the personal relationships between the shop owners and the baking tannies. Just this I find makes it so important to not forget about them but to appreciate community driven little shops somewhere in the corner of a huge shopping centre who believe in real food, rather than mass produced... crap.

Mini Food

I enjoy food photography, but this I found online that just amazes me. The artists is Shay Aaron.

Afraid

In an earlier post, the one about the alternative processes, I was searching for a suitable topic or rather subject to photograph of which I would use the negative to print a cyanotype toned with strong tea. 

And I found it. Five solid and clean portraits showing people who just got a fright the moment the shutter triggered. It's a little tricky to execute, I thought of trowing the people with a ball. We will see. 

Not quite what I had in mind but still a very inspirational image.

 

Imagine the same style of photograph, contrast and lighting wise just with a different expression. 

To pull this into context, the metal pathway (very simplified) I walked to get to this idea was the following:

alternative processes - alternative people - portraits - blue - feeling blue - sadness - connecting images together as one - one emotion - creating one image consisting of different photographs - too complex - keep it plain - strong - clean - center shot - white background - portrait  and so forth...and then I realised while I just typed the last word (which was the word word) that I am still trying to develop concepts better for a complete picture. some things are missing still... but these sparks of light that you see when you close your eyes or stood up to quickly, equate them to little thoughts and ideas that submerge you in awesome creativeness and inspiration...will find me soon again.

When is time-over?

The question, what is time? can not be answered (I forgot, yes, the scientific world can of course...)... because everyone has a different answer... and anyone can disagree with the concept or understanding someone else has... but I think the one thing everyone agrees with is the feeling of having "lost" time... that feeling of fear and anger, or rather self-hatred or sometimes disappointment and sadness... that piercing stick which hits you in the stomach and folds you up like an umbrella.

I find it comes in many different forms, a few being that inner turmoil, namely purely forgetting things and having that "ohh sh.." moment but also realising after having done something that it was done wrong... or it did not work out the way you wanted it to. But why do we feel emotions leaning towards the not so positive side when noticing the loss of time? We should be happy for having at least done something with our time (for example being a living being in it)... some would say.

These thoughts, even though just incomplete little notions of firing neurons led me to a concept I would like to approach in photography, namely the combination of "negative" circumstances with "positive" emotions. It would be based on the same principles as body language... or rather how much you play with that phenomenon. What I mean is that if your verbal expressions don't coincide with your bodily gestures the person you are speaking to might feel a little confused about what you are talking about as we obviously consider both when interpreting communications. This concept is a very easy and basic idea of something that has to grow into something meaningful, and yes, again I refer to the development within my own thoughts, as always, but I guess today I just use it as an escape or rather excuse... as I find myself not inspired. But, I remind myself of the purpose of this blog, of using this platform as a guide to overcome these situations, and with time and effort they will return.

And as a little extra... this yummy liquid might help?!*

*Please understand that I don't encourage anyone to consume wine, including the one depicted below as it is an alcoholic beverage which can be harmful so some people.

Medium Format Photography

An assignment: Medium Format Photography.

And I love it! The colours, the aspect ratio, the detail... I could go on... It is by far the best medium I've used so far to capture images. Just testing it with a black and white Ilford and seeing the results... it opened a little door in my head to a new room... where the light bulb was already on. 

Here an example of a photograph I've taken with the test film which was scanned as a negative:

Isn't the detail incredible? And the contrast... I could go on!

I have realised by seeing the images I've taken with a medium format camera that this is possibly the only medium I know so far which would accurately represent the concepts I have in mind photographing, criticising or cherishing.... essentially sharing. I feel I have reached a breakthrough of epic proportions (isn't the word epic just epic?!) with regards to being inspired. This medium inspires me. And it feels like it won't be a temporary thing... but a choice I've made or rather a choice that happened.

...just a pity that thing is so bulky... *


*you do get smaller awesome medium formats but I don't have access to them yet.

Target: Art

Its time to write something thoughtful again... something that possibly could contribute to my understanding of what is happening... but to what? To this world? To me? To everything? To words that I throw in here that sound bold and all-encompassing? But I guess what I forget is the "you"? You as the reader... are you the one I write this too? I would hope this is not the case as this is my creative study... but I do... it is unavoidable!

What does this have to do with photography? It's all about concepts! Concepts, concepts concepts! And yes they are arty concepts... the ones by the people who stand in an art gallery or exhibition and have all those thoughts and interpretations of the piece on the wall, which, frankly, could be portraying anything or made out of any material you can think of.. but it is relevant? Maybe yes as it presents a concept possibly targeting a social issue or thought we all share and can relate to. Or maybe no... because it is in fact just art. Art doesn't do anything except make the people who create it feel even more confused about themselves and seem to enlighten the audience about what is happening around us or to them or in them. And now what? Nothing! I don't think people actually remember the piece they saw but rather the feeling, the emotion which they discovered through the piece. So this would essentially mean that art is good as it makes us more aware of things... but is it not a form of indoctrination as well? Just targeting more vulnerable issues? Like advertising, art advertises issues, reminds us of them and pulls them into our reality. And according to some followers of positive thinking this would mean these issues would become more or increase in intensity because we are reminded of them in a  problematic negative light and are not urged to think positively of solutions. Of course, this can also be seen as naive, faulty thinking... but it would make sense if it were to be true why things haven't gotten better yet... ok this last sentence can be ignored... it is too far fetched... but maybe thus useful for a concept in art?!

To conclude, peeling a plum and actually experiencing the texture of the flesh underneath and seeing the skin lying at the side loosing importance... as this texture is just so human like, a human without skin... just mixed with more sogginess... and the colour... it reminds me of cut open purple cabbage mixed with red berries... This violence of judging the inside, I do notice a resemblance to art?! Do you?

Alternative Processes

It's all about Photoshop! Have you seen this? Can you do that? Look what he/she did! The difference is amazing! How did you get there?

Instead of honoring this software even more, I will revert back to photographic printing and colouring processes that look fantastic. The key.... they require a little work, actions done by hand and chemicals, not PS.

A chemical is painted onto water colour paper. Then a negative or like in the examples below objects are placed onto the dried paper and then exposed to sunlight. The parts of the paper not covered change in colour. After exposing for about 5-20 minutes (depending on the process), the paper is washed with running water (sometimes with more chemicals added to the water), which acts as a fixer. The results are as below.
All examples from www.alternativephotography.com

Cyanotypes

Vandykes

Salt

Creating a fine art series with one of these processes shall be interesting. My thoughts are running wild while I'm trying to find a suitable topic that deserves this work and effort. Possibly a series on nudes in blue? Or dark brown portraits with dramatic lighting connected with each other in some or other way, or lastly photographing the theme of "to much of a good thing is a bad thing" but on salt, which would support the message inherently. I will have to get back to this.

An Invasion

Faces faces faces.... portraiture... it all seems to come together slowly... wanting to create faces that have more meaning... however that can be achieved...

I found these images of my drawings on my system this morning by coincidence and realised that my interest in portrait photography is deeper rooted than I first thought. And by looking at them I feel this little tingle in my tummy of wanting to shoot clean head shots of people with interesting lighting to really bring out their character and create a sense of "realness" and "being" when photographed. At the same time, by cutting off the rest of the body, the head, the brain, the machine is all that can speak...the one that needs to associate him/herself with him/herself once in that position. 

Taking one way glass with the mirror finish on the one side for people to see their reflection feeling unobserved and then photographing them from the other side of the glass might be the truest way to capture pure expression, but also it might show little nuances you don't want to see, that would destroy you, your perception of that person... it would bring to light the soul (for a lack of a better word), would question it and might even hurt it when exhibiting large prints of that person publicly.

I don't know if I would call it an ethical dilemma. But what would you call it? An invasion? But of what?

Sundays

Today, Sunday,  I stayed indoors the entire day, and it feels very strange... looking through the blinds and seeing the last sun rays hitting earth for this day... thinking back to these nostalgic times when everything seemed so promising, so free... but at the same time scary and challenging but in such a good way that it is never experienced the same way... for me driving at sunset triggers a little of nostalgia, but only sometimes... I wish I would find a recipe to feel that way when I want to... that sense of wonder and inner joyfulness. The most interesting thing about this whole concept though is that if you feel a sense of nostalgia, chances are that the person you're with at that moment feels it too. How strange?!

How amazing would it be if photographs can be taken that trigger nostalgia in people. Is it possible because you would need to be certain it would have that effect on most of your audience otherwise it's personal interpretation and sensation rather than universal... universal what?! I believe for today this is enough writing.