My Portrait Theme Influences

The work of the dance troupe 'Pilobolus' is the idea behind my Studio 'Portrait' theme - working title 'You Bring The Dream To Life'.



And here's a YOUTUBE video to get a real feel for my theme.


I am also influenced by the trigrams of the I Ching - shown here.



And have developed this idea to recreate pictures using yin / yang to identify soft/hard, dark/light, strong/weak, masculine/feminine, day night. In this one I use simple form to articulate my interpretation.



My aims is to translate this in to 'Taoist' imagery as shown in this picture taken just off of Dovedale at 'lovers leap'

Articulating Choice - That Which Is

To develop my photography skills I need to learn greater attention to details and lighting. I believe using still life and portraiture in a studio will bring a huge leap forward in my understanding. Sebastio Salgado has long been a 'hero' of mine and his use of light in 'location portraits' is stunning and beautifully illustrated here.

This image denotes the struggle of human kind in a world of riches. Typical images of such issues portray the suffering and poverty of the people concerned. Salgado goes further, he gives them dignity and beauty. Lighting is the tool that he uses to achieve this effect.

Articulating Choice - That Which Isn't

If I truly followed my heart I would choose reportage photography. I have played with these types of images and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. There is a 'but' and it is this; having grown up with a very strong social conscience my interest in documentary photography would become all consuming. My interest would be consumed by the social issues rather than the image. Although it is possible that the converse is true - that this intrinsic interest in the subject could be the driving force to create images deserving of the cause.

It may be that I will return to reportage/documentary/photo-journalism again.