One way I look at my work is to think of it like sculpture.
As the moulding of a material in three dimensions. I want to indicate the shape of the thing (often someone’s head), the depth of it, and how far objects are from each other and where in space they are relatively. I like to use a short lens so that I can create receding planes and suggestive perspectives.
I also want the person in the photograph to seem like they’ve been standing like that forever. Gesturing like that for eternity. Often I don’t want any hint of movement or blur.
I also try very hard to get the main plane of the face in perfect focus so that the detail of the face, the pores, the creases, the marks are hyper-real. Perhaps not even like the face of a real person, but of intricately fabricated plastics (like Madame Taussauds maybe, but not so kitch).
I also like to isolate subjects from their surroundings by limiting what is behind them and I try to make the background illegible if I can. I want to immortalise these people (but not make them heros, often they are anything but).
I also want expressions which are at the height of an emotion. That emotion doesn’t have to be extreme, but the viewer should be able to relate to it and say, oh, they’re sad, or longing, or withdrawn, or anxious, or lost, or whatever.
Reading Szarkowski on Walker Evans led me to think of the link to sculpture.
“…that high art and serious craft profitably influenced each other not through the mechanism of copying but by the absorption of organizing principles. Evans made it clear that he found in commercial postcards, in newsreels, in the work of real estate and insurance photographers, clues pointing toward a style that would serve his interests better than the lush textures and elegant patterns of the high art photographers.”
This is the 100th post on this blog. And although it is really just a private scratch pad for me, I’m glad that it’s grown the way it has. It’s also nice to have friends who like to follow what I’ve been up. Thanks for reading.
Posted 2 years ago
