I love lines. They're strong parts of architecture, urban landscapes, industrial facades, shadows, pretty much everything I like to photograph. That's why I thought this would be an easy theme. But it's the same reason it turned out to be somewhat difficult. I've already photographed a LOT of lines for this theme project. I would come across some great subject matter, but then realize I had a similar picture already up on Instagram. Part of this year-long challenge is to produce new work, so I tried not to repeat myself too much.
Still, I enjoyed working on this theme a lot. I originally thought of it for two reasons. The first is Instagram itself. They host a weekly themed challenge, called the Weekend Hashtag Project. I don't ever really participate in them because I keep myself focused on my own chosen themes and save my Instagram feed for just those photos. A recent Hashtag Project was all about lines, specifically ones that lead to a corner of the photo frame. I saw some really great work and was inspired to post my own photos, even if a few weeks later.
My second reason is that I love the work of Charles Sheeler. He's been one of my favorite photographers ever since I became aware of him through photo class in high school. He took great industrial and urban photographs in the 1920s and 30s, before such subject matter was really accepted as art, and strong lines are the foundation of his compositions. One of the photos I took early on for this theme is something of a modern echo of his great photo titled "Criss-Crossed Conveyors," pictured left. I didn't notice the resemblance until I decided to make my image grayscale. I guess his influence is stronger than I thought.
