“The heart of the method is this: A clue from one photograph would develop into an idea for another. At times the subject matter suggested a method of working and vice versa. Sometimes I would seek out some specific subject matter with a planned picture in mind, but as I became involved with the subject a very different picture would result. … The best procedure for me to follow is to involve myself completely with a number of problems, then move from one to another, and return to each for the purpose of re-evaluation. This time lapse period was the most important factor in the procedure.”
- Kenneth Josephson in the Encyclopedia of 20th Century Photography, p. 838)
This is a pretty accurate summation of the method I’ve found myself using to work out the Burqa series. Looking through the whole cache of initial pictures I was struck by one with a girl in a burqa looking off to her right with a worried expression on her face. I kept on returning to that photograph. That in itself was the clue.
Then I started thinking about burqhas and what they mean to me and to others. I started doing a bit of research and writing up some notes. The next day I went out specifically trying to shoot women wearing burqas. This will add to a a cache of photos which will accrue the small discoveries and alterations of approach that are inevitable (and welcome!). After that I’ll make a set to publish.
One of the big challenges (as outlined in yesterday’s shooting notes) is how to tell an interesting visual story, which holds interest, and which deepens the understanding of the viewer.
I have a cache of other ideas that came up from reviewing the initial range of pictures that I’ve already taken, and when I need space to breathe I will move on to the other projects and then come back to this one with fresher eyes.
The clue:
Posted 2 years ago
