I have always preferred to take photos of found objects, architecture, industrial sites, shapes, things, but not people, to me they aren't as interesting, not as pleasing to the eye, but mainly I haven't liked it because almost all portraiture is too posed, too fake.
This assignment was difficult because I was striving for various things. Authenticity, artistry, in-the-moment candor, honesty, truth, sculpted or a 3 dimensional look. As an artist I feel like its been hard to push the photojournalist aside, but I am working at making her pause and not just shoot the action, but shoot that truth.
Almost all the photos are new. Many are onesies. I had one moment to get one good shot. I used the last two, which I shot a couple months ago, because I liked them so much. Gareth was checking out his bass while here at my house practicing. Kelly turned toward me at the D while I was holding my camera and I shot. Most of the other people I don't know. Well there's Truxton and Elijah, too.
I have been taking art classes since before I started school. My mother, who was artistic, began teaching me to draw when I was pre-kinder age. From there it was art classes in elementary school, middle school, high school, private lessons, then college art. I began taking photos for the high school yearbook using a Pentax. Went to college and started taking pictures for the radio station where I worked. I took photojournalism classes and used a Canon AE1. Though my focus in art was always three dimensional, I sculpted, I often ended up being behind the camera.
Again because of my job as a reporter, I’ve found myself taking pictures. It was always a pain in most cases, difficult to juggle a camera, lenses, a note pad, pen and maybe a tape recorder. But, photography has come to replace sculpting for me mainly because it is accessible. I can’t easily bop out and weld up a sculpture, I don’t have a kiln, iron, aluminum and bronze pours require at least 50 other artists to do anything awesome and cool. It’s a very trying medium to work in. But, photography, that is much easier access.
I’ve noticed recently that standing behind a camera, looking through the viewfinder is like meditating. It’s zen; that moment of peace, composing a shot; a work of art. I have had so many years of composition that it’s second nature. It actually truly takes seconds. But, in those seconds exists eternity. I am clam, at peace, looking, seeing what only I can see, knowing what only I can know, because I am the one composing the shot. These ideas are alive in my head. Will it turn out the way I hope, expect? Maybe, usually, sometimes I surprise myself. Others I disappoint. But, always, I feel lost in that moment of being.
That is what I hoped to capture with this assignment; the moment of being.
No comments:
Post a Comment