Sunday, March 4, 2012

Ok I'm really having a hard time deciding between three different ideas I have. So, since we're supposed to comment on everyone's posts, it would be greatly appreciated if you guys would go ahead and tell me which of these sucks and which I should go through with.

Ok #1
I was looking at some of Richard Mosse's photographs of the postwar ruins in Yugoslavia and was really captivated by this one photograph of a blown up minivan. The tones in the picture were really orange which helped to highlight the "destruction" theme of the photo. This got me thinking about how color photography can especially be helpful in composing images like these.
I think it would be cool to do a series on destruction and decay. In a city like Chicago, there are so many different areas, old and new, that could give me something interesting to photograph. But not only are there things around the streets to take pictures of, I could also focus on different opinions of destruction. For example, some might think getting a tattoo or piercing is destroying your body. Basically, this project would allow me to get really conceptual, so I don't think I'd have a hard time using 5 rolls.

My second idea came to me the other day while I was getting poured down on on the way to work. I saw massive puddles with cool reflections and interesting trails of water down the sides of buildings. So I thought it might be interesting for water to be the subject of my series. I could take pictures of the city in the rain, people's reactions to the weather, and also set up scenes in my own room with water, like the effect it has on ink, washing dishes....stuff like that.
The problem I see with this project is that I would get really lucky and it would never rain. Or if it did rain, and I ruined my camera in the weather. (Luckily I just bought a $30 umbrella.)
But I think if it goes the way I'm picturing it, these pictures could turn out really cool. I would probably intentionally print them with a blue color cast for that cool temperature feeling, and I'd try to get really zoomed in vantage points for a few in the rain.

Ok last one, I swear. I was again looking through my Aperture magazine and saw Hans-Peter Feldmann's series called "A Paradise of the Ordinary." In this series, Feldmann has either collected a group of objects and photographed each of them separately. They're all the same subject matter, but a different variation. For example, he takes a bunch of photographs of single strawberries, but then displays them all together so that the viewer can see their originalities/aspects that set them apart.
I really liked this idea of comparing things of the same subject. I probably wouldn't collect objects, because that would basically be copying his series, but I think it could be cool to compare certain physical attributes of people, or areas around the city like different gas stations or grocery stores. For each subject, I'd probably choose a certain point of view and stick with it for every photograph of the thing so that you are really able to compare each of the same thing. As far as color theory goes, I'm not sure yet, I think it would depend on what I was photographing.

Alright I'm done. Sorry to make you read a novel, but I need heeeeeeelllllpppp choosing so hopefully you've made it to the end of this post. :)

1 comment:

  1. all great ideas. If you go through with the second one you should definitely try to get some great shots of the lake or with St. Paddy's coming up the river will be green and will offer some great shot of not only the river but the river running into the blue lake.

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