This theme began after I came across some photos from a fashion studio lighting course I took at NESOP a few years ago. The class was a lot of fun for me, getting the chance to feel what it's like to be on a fashion shoot. It was also a helpful primer in studio lighting and flash, something I hadn't spent much time on in photojournalism. Though one of the best sessions was when we spent the night outside the studio in the surrounding area around Kenmore Square. I found this great spray painted alley as a backdrop, and it's one of my favorite photos from the course.
With that in mind, I thought I'd go in pursuit of more interesting alleys in Boston. There are so many types: garden-like alleys in the South End, industrial ones that run along the T tracks, narrow alleys that snake through the old colonial buildings. It's my kind of subject matter too. I loved walking the streets of the city, eagerly turning down empty alleys. I must have been a strange sight to others, dressed up from work and photographing puddles in alleys. All in the name of photography!
Souvenirs of summer
This theme was way out of my comfort zone. I wanted to do something about summer, especially since I was going into a week with a few days off from work for a staycation, and would be doing a lot of very summer-specific activities. I didn't think just taking photos of summer events would be visually consistent, so I decided on still lifes. A lot of Instagram posts are the very popular shot-from-above photo of food or flowers, so I thought it would be a good aesthetic to try out. There's even a popular hashtag for it, #stillography.
But still lifes are not really my thing. All of my schooling in photojournalism was about not setting up the shot and trying instead to capture the moment as it happened. Creating the images really relied more on my limited background in graphic design than photography. I also found things looked a lot better in my head! A few times, I had a great idea in mind, but when I set it up and shot it, it didn't look as good as I expected. That's totally different from my regular process, where I stop to photograph something because I see it in front of me and it looks interesting and worth documenting.
Still, it was fun to put some of these shots together, and there were more variables under my control. The whole set would have looked better if they were all true still lifes of stationary objects, but the exceptions (the ice cream cone and string of lights) were too summery to pass up.
Typecast
This theme was inspired by other feeds I had seen on Instagram that focus on type and signage. I wanted to depict interesting typography, fonts and uses of words in the urban landscape. I always loved graphic design in school and companies and advertising use a lot more visually bold text lately. But I tried to focus on unique, found text rather than all the more official signs and words around us on a daily basis.
There was such a variety of options that I found a different problem than when I don't find enough subjects. I took a lot more photos than what I posted, and deliberated more about which ones to use. I felt they weren't looking as cohesive of a group as some of my past themes. Most of them seem to stand better on their own. I think if I had focused on just letters, or just signs, they might have matched more. I also originally included the picture to the right, but replaced it below with another more focused on type. This one was me falling back into my natural style and editing, rather than sticking to the theme!
Orange is the new...
I honestly didn't have the Netflix show in mind when I picked orange for the next theme. I wanted to do another color week, and orange seemed like a good choice for the start of summer. Orange isn't as prevalent as some of the other colors I've done, unless I just focused on construction and warning signs. So it forced me to look for subjects in new places a bit, including posting the first portrait and sunset so far in this project. Portraits, I should do more of, but I try to steer clear of sunsets and flowers. It's just too easy (and pretty).
But as always, opportunities present themselves. Walking home from work, I spotted the orange garland flags draped across the front of a brownstone. There were no birthday signs or other decorations, so I don't know what they were for, but how random to use orange. It must be good photo karma!
Split screen
This theme was about symmetry, and I was surprised that it was much harder than expected. It was influenced by Wes Anderson and his style of cinematography, which I love. Around the time his most recent movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel, was released, a video compilation of his movie scenes was posted online. It shows Anderson's obsession with, and mastery of, symmetry in his shots. It's mesmerizing to watch and impressive that he creates it so consistently, especially since as the viewer, it doesn't seem to be obvious or oppressive. I myself didn't notice how prevalent it was before watching that clip, and I've seen all these movies multiple times.
So I thought this wouldn't be that difficult. Sure, symmetry is everywhere, but I quickly found this theme was becoming an excuse for me to just take more pictures of architecture. I tried to switch to objects, but found that a lot of compositions and the resulting images weren't visually interesting to me. Even with editing and filters, they just looked flat. The genius of Wes Anderson's compositions is that they appear simplistic, but are carefully crafted of many components and layers. It's something I realized has to be created for the most part, rather than stumbled across while I'm out searching for photos. I also realized I like taking photos that are often not symmetrical, with something askew or at an angle, or lines that criss-cross the frame. Surprising, since I love Wes Anderson's visuals so much.
It took me a long time to choose these final nine. While many are still architecture-related, I did begin to find more interesting objects and subjects than just classical columns and the geometric facades I started with. I ended up choosing a group of images that created a variety of colors, subjects and types of symmetry. Though the photo with the columns and arches reflected in the water is still my favorite. *sigh*
