on Photography

Not taken (Somewhere above Saudi Arabia, 2009)

Red Lantern (Vietnam, 2008)

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Over the last few months, I have seen a lot of inspirational works, prominently around the  around the web. I love to take pictures but I also loved to look at them, eventually start a collection of prints when I’ll stop moving every 3 years. First of all, came up the “feet project”. That’s it, taking pictures of my feet – or fellow’s – does not make for a great variety of subjects, though we admit it provides a large range of backgrounds.

I did not want that.

Then I came up with a “cloud project”. Without being really creative, it would have force me to chase new and original subjects, along with working on my habit of blowing the highlights a tad too much. It sounded too geeky to me.

I did not want that either.

So I am left with 4 options.

• The “recurrent object” project is a study. The inspiration on this one came from Bryan Peterson’s book “Understanding Shutter Speed” which shows samples of the author’s own project : pictures of a balloon. Always the same balloon. This came in handy to complete what the author explains in this book: where and how to show movement. On the samples, you can see a balloon rolling down a countryside road or the balloon – immobile – in a supermarket caddy (the movement being induced by the context).
  I find this idea to be great for exercising but at the same time it does not bring enough appeal to motivate me on the long run. So for now I have put aside that one too.
• The “Nuanciers” project(s) is also a study. “Nuancier” is the French word for “Color chart”. This idea was inspired by a wide range of stuff I have seen lately, and is indeed not really original. In his book “Perfect Exposure” (and probably in some other publications…), Michael Freeman explains the exposure of a color changes the way it is perceived by the camera, and hence renders into different feelings for the viewer. In my mind it is interesting to then study how behaves the colors.
  I took a few shots with this idea in mind and the good news is that it does not turn out to be an easy one… However, to understand the results, it is best to have a color checker card. I do not have one (yet), so I just paused this one (motivation was not that high either…)

Peach Sunrise (Chau Doc, Vietnam, 2008)

• The “3 questions notebook” project (inspired by a story seen on hermes.com ; I cannot find it anymore?!), has been my favorite for a while now. But of course the notebook shown on Hermes’ website is not something I want to replicate (I still should be creative!).
  The original 2 notebooks featured black and white (Polaroids?) picture on a page and 3 questions/answers on the opposing page. The questions would be answered by the character(s) pictured, in this particular case, jazzmen, during times the South of the U.S.A. was really racists. Questions may have been different from page to page.
  My idea was to feature some of my friends, or people I get on well with, and portray their personality through both the questions and the pictures. I still think it is good although  nobody knows why, I have yet to start it. Perhaps that’s because I haven’t found the Moleskine I wanted to use?!

• The “Strangers” Project. Inspired in its quasi-totality by Benoit Paille’s “Stranger” set (see it here on Flickr), this option represents a challenge for me. I am not really good at going around places and ask people if they agree to be photographed. I want to. I like that idea. People you see in the streets are photographically interesting. Yet difficult to approach for me? Perhaps that’s the point, a challenging feat to broaden my scope of options and better handle portraiture?

Perhaps if you can give me your views on these ideas?!…

I do want that, actually.