Only a 100 photos today but a lot of thinking about the process of live photography. Most of the day was spent, pleasurably, on local buses that travelled at the customary 5 kilometres per hour. It started raining at one point, and I’d decided to get the longest hair cut in the world (it took over an hour) so I didn’t get much shooting time.
- For locations a new idea is taking shape. I think one of the reasons I like Gulistan so much is it’s a high pressure situation. People are leaving on long trips, there is much noise, a lot of movement, dangers, people, heat, mess. People lose their composure, and their control under these situations. I want to see the break down of the usual facade that people have. In those moments, you get … you get what? Someone stressed out? What’s the meaning behind that? Why isn’t that just exploitative? (Forget the tired argument that most art is in some way exploitative.) I want to see something different, something you don’t usually see. I want to see it close up. That’s reason enough.
- I’m getting pissed of with colour again. I had settled on a beautiful muted range. However, after seeing the work of Joel Sternfeld, and Alec Soth, I’m starting to see the immaturity of what I’m producing. This isn’t all the time. The close up face shots usually have excellent colour that I’m very happy with but some of the mid-shots, and most of the long-shots are terrible. Colour is harder the more detail and potentially conflicting samples of it you have to deal with. Also there is a muddiness to Bangladesh, an overwhelming dirtiness that makes for ugly work. I yellow it up, but mostly it still looks shit. What is gorgeous however, are the clothes that people wear (perhaps in reaction to the dirtiness) and so the close-ups look good, with the neutral white or blue sky in the background. Direct sun also saturates the colours. One of the big advantages of shooting in colour is that it makes you think a lot harder about what is in front of you. To understand why it looks the way it does. More thinking required.
- Focus was off, need practice. Need drills. Fuck.
- I nearly got to a point where I stopped giving a shit that people were looking at me and the camera. Nearly. It will come.
- The other very interesting thing that came about today: I started to consciously beginning to visualise. I’ve always done that on a basic level, looking for the next face coming down the straight. This time however I was on a bus and I imagined the different directions that a photo could come from. Of course this is all very crude at the moment, but slowly it will be come more and more natural and I’ll miss less and less pictures. I realise how so so early on in the process I am and how much better my skills have to get. But with better visualisation, less fear of actually taking the shot, and better shot skills. Fuck, things are going to get better.
Why tomorrow will be better.
- More imagining of what may happen. Where the next face or shot will come from. More preparation to take that shot. How am I prepared for a shot like that etc.
- Start earlier (if the sun’s there) and take things a bit slower. Try to feel the place your in a bit more. The usual request to connect more with people. What I mostly get from them is confusion though.
- Focus work. 10 minutes. Come on, you can do 10 minutes.
- Think about the colours you are seeing in front of you. Is it a scene which just looks shit, or is what’s coming through in the camera shit? Concentrate on particular colours and how they come through.
- Stop giving a shit about what people think. If they question you, talk to them. Be firm. What you’re doing is important. Right? Right?
Posted 2 years ago
