Assignment 2: Photographing the Unseen - The plan

The plan:

The brief for the narrative assignment is to create a photo essay on a subject that may be considered unseen, or un-photographable. My initial thoughts for this assignment were to use a concept such as motherhood, strength or tranquility or to base the images around a person who is no longer with us, therefore cannot be seen. Asking for ideas from my husband, he followed a more scientific slant with subjects such as sound, gravity and magnetism. I spent some time considering the various images to fit the concepts. I have included the list below:

1.     Tranquility: ·       Forest ·       Stream ·       Field ·       Reading 2.     Dad ·       Trombone ·       Glenn Miller ·       Heart ·       Sisters ·       Quiff 3.     Motherhood ·       Feeding ·       Pride ·       Worry ·       Support ·       Healing 4.     Health ·       Food ·       Sport ·       Supplements ·       Yoga ·       Heart 5.     Magnetism ·       Get creative with magnets and metal things ·       Human magnetism

6.     Gravity ·       Photoshop images of defying gravity!!! 7.     Sound ·       Microphone/amp ·       Cornflour on speaker ·       Graphic equalizer ·       Onomatopoeia (smash/drip) 8.     Smell ·       Flowers ·       Coffee beans ·       Perfume ·       Holding nose ·       Onions/garlic ·       Garlic ·       Spices ·       Sweat 9.     Vitality ·       Bright colours ·       Lively people ·       Healthy foliage ·       Color Run ·       Acro yoga ·       Sport 10.  Strength ·       Weights ·       Muscles ·       Mental strength

My final decision came as a result of a phone call. My sister asked if I could photograph her and her partner to advertise their acro-yoga classes. I have done a couple of yoga shoots in the past and love the freedom of creativity she gives me. I love photographing people but not being a fan of the posed photo shoot, this would give me the perfect opportunity to practise further the ‘active portrait’ learned in the ‘People & Place’ OCA course.

 I considered some of the concepts involved in the activity; as above, the words health and strength came to mind as well as balance, flexibility and vitality. Acro-yoga is a form of partner yoga in which two people work together, one balancing on the other as they transition into varying poses.

The most obvious concept to go with, I felt was balance. Not wanting to focus merely on physical balance, I would need to think of more ways to represent balance while ensuring that the images still worked together as a complete set.

I considered the lessons learned in my first course, The Art of Photography, on elements of design and colour. As well as using the literal idea of balancing in the girls’ poses, I could use contrasts and symmetry as well as balancing colours in my images. I was delighted when a decision was made to create the images in East Park, a beautiful, local park that we were all familiar with. I am much more comfortable both being and taking photographs outdoors and felt that the lush spring greens would help to create refreshing and beautiful images. The girls wore purple t-shirts, which perfectly balanced with the contrasting greens and Lisa’s vibrant orange hair; we even found an orange coloured bush to include in the background of some of the images.

Although I considered several interpretations of the word ‘balance’ before the shoot, others evolved during the shoot and some during editing.