Well , what can I say, I feel like I have been to the moon and back with my folio, not to mention the merry-go-round. My original folio concept proposal was to portray child portraiture of the great masters, like Millais, Degas (see image below), Bronzino and Delaroche (he is a bit weird, but I think I get him), but using photography.
I was really excited about this, however time constraints and feedback suggested it would restrict the number of images I could produce, therefore not portraying the amount of work put in, and all I would achieve for the portraits would be a pass. And for me, P does not mean Degree, although people keep telling me that is industry standard and that is still good.
I read once that 'the difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary' is a little 'extra'. So.....
...I want to go that little bit extra. As I really love child portraiture...and, a wise person recently told me I should 'push the boundaries'... that is what I intend on doing! I have never done night photography - so I am going to combine night photography with my love for portraiture. I am also still going to explore pet photography, but in a different way...stay tuned to that one! (Lindi, I promise it won't be kitch)
Here is my first night shoot I did on the weekend. Working in advertising for many years, I discovered for radio to have the edge, you needed to understand that radio was 'the theater of the mind" so, translating that to visual imagery, I want the viewer to "draw their own meaning - visually'. I know what the image means to me, but it may mean something different to each viewer, which is exciting - hence it is subjective! Welcome to the world of Art. The image below is a little small, however, I will give you a hint, the balloon says Happy 80th.
This shoot was really frustrating, firstly is was 8 degrees, so I couldn't feel my fingers, secondly both modeling lights on the portable lighting kit didn't work, so I couldn't see anything...do I need to go on! Oh, and I didn't have a spot light - how many #%@#!* holes can there be in bush. However, I learnt a lot, like check the modeling lights, backdrop stands are no substitute for lighting stands and wear thermal underwear when shooting at night. I am going to re-shoot this tomorrow night - wonder if I can bring our gas heater (OK, I am a whoos).
This shoot was really frustrating, firstly is was 8 degrees, so I couldn't feel my fingers, secondly both modeling lights on the portable lighting kit didn't work, so I couldn't see anything...do I need to go on! Oh, and I didn't have a spot light - how many #%@#!* holes can there be in bush. However, I learnt a lot, like check the modeling lights, backdrop stands are no substitute for lighting stands and wear thermal underwear when shooting at night. I am going to re-shoot this tomorrow night - wonder if I can bring our gas heater (OK, I am a whoos).
2 comments:
Hi Cate,
Its looking good, Im glad that you are dong what you want to be doing. Look forward to seeing your next shoot!
Masha
Hi Cate
Ramblings is all about thinking, and you are exploring a variety of approaches in depth. I am glad you are not going down the path of reenacting old master painters as this is very derivative, plus it has been done to death. Better to really push an area that might be technically and conceptually challenging. In terms of the child at night, what first springs to mind is of course danger and fragility- children are not meant to be outside at night. In that context you might be willingly or unwillingly engaging in the very contemporary debates about photographing children and how we construct their vulnerabilities. There is a number of contemporary feminist/mother/groovy photographers you should look at for your research - starting with Mary Ellen Mark, Polixeni Papapetru, Ella Dreyfus and I can give you a longer list later. Most of these photographers have thought long & hard about the issues of photographing children. I think this will add a whole other dimension to your work, apart from making beautiful images of the child.
S.
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