BLURRY DAYS // intentionality

Late last year I started a photo project titled Blurry Days, which has been completed and can be found here.

My previous projects have been more documentary-style -- I wanted to try something more overtly stylistic. Something less serious with a bit more pop.

With the exception of one set, these photos were shot on digital (a number of them on my iPhone). That year I had become quite comfortable with the way I've been doing color correction and I needed to push myself to try something different. Blurry Days was the perfect exercise.

This project focuses mostly on color and the relationship an image has on the other when viewed together.

Curation is something I've been finding to be more and more crucial, especially while working on this project and at the same time redesigning this website - the effect a neighboring photo has is significant. For this project, I felt like having each set of images as a pair enhanced the overall experience compared to if each photo was standalone.

Each set required some sense of order or proper contrast. Unlike my previous projects, I feel like the bulk of the work in this project was in post-process and curation. I'd go as far to say this project was born out of the question - is curation an art form in itself?

Neighboring photos have the ability to make or break a photo viewing experience.

When it comes to social media platforms such as Instagram, you only have so much control over how your audience is going to consume your content. A post is viewed alongside all the other things that could possibly make their way onto someone's home page. Yes, you’re gaining exposure for your content, but is this actually the kind of exposure you want? Do you really want your work to be presented in this sort of nondeterministic fashion? There's this emphasis on selling a single post or photo as a standalone, maximizing engagement. It makes sense though - shorter attention spans, less expectations. No context needed.

As a creative, this just seems like an unhealthy mindset to be in -- compromising your ideas for exposure (where people still aren't even giving your work full attention). Do the likes and views actually add value and meaning to your work?

For an image to be viewed either in isolation or as a part of a whole, that requires intentionality. I genuinely believe that photos can be enjoyed on a deeper level when consumed in an intentional manner, where the context (neighboring photos & content) matters and enhances the overall experience.

LESS IS MORE: COLOR

Happy new year’s — finally got around to spilling some thoughts on photos.

Disclaimer: Everyone has their own way of assigning value to a photograph. I'm coming at this from an aesthetics point of view - when looking at a photo I find aesthetics to be just as important or even moreso than the "message" or the memory of the event itself. Creating a photo which is more interesting than the original moment.

The majority of 2021 has been focusing mostly on subject matter and composition and currently I'm mostly focused on leveling up my color game.
There's so much to color -- to me it seems like a more multifaceted version of light & shadow.
Similarly to that of light, the purpose of color is to draw the viewer's attention to specific places of the image.
To prioritize one portion of the image over the other.

You can't have a frame that's overly complicated or just full of noise (not the high ISO kind) -- unless you want a confused and bored viewer.
Have you noticed the appeal of the film look? Less is more. Film color palettes are in fact much simpler and more coherent than that of most digital cameras, which try to achieve the level of complexity that is found in reality.
Stronger characteristics, less ambiguity -- this is how people can more effectively digest & remember photos.

But why is simpler better? I personally think it's because people have a limited sensory bandwidth and this comes into play especially when looking at a photograph for the first time.
Think of all the things people need to absorb in every photo: textures, tones, colors, framing, subject, location, etc.
Most people don't remember reality but instead just a fraction of it. That's why people think film evokes a sense of nostalgia.
The medium of film itself is the embodiment of simplification of light and color - that's why film is a timeless and beautiful medium - as all the chaos in the sensory reality has already been made simplified and coherent.

These characteristics don't need to be exclusive to film. So how can we speed up this sensory download on the digital side of photography?

I've been exploring the idea of making photos more easily digestible - via color and particularly through editing in post. Creating within limitations. If b&w gained its appeal through simplicity, why not try the same using color?

Currently working on a project which is my own study of color -- how colors may be matched, contrasted, and how this may even connect two photographs with differing subject matter.
I think what makes this project stand out from my previous work is that it explores new palettes & how contrasting characteristics can exist in the same photograph, such as terms like cold and warm. Really excited to be putting this one out. Hopefully very soon.

make now, think later

Make now, think later.

I'm seeking out this pattern of setting less expectations in the creative process. Or worded differently, being comfortable going off course or altering it entirely. Noticing myself trying a bit too hard formulating what it is I want to create before going out and actually doing it. Overthinking ideas really. Not that it's wrong -- just sometimes going a different direction or blindly starting something might be the best thing you can do to unblock yourself.

Ideas are important but reality is.. reality. The other half. You can't ignore it, gotta keep up with it. Like it's not just about what you want to shoot, you need to also know how you've been shooting - your tendencies, which unfortunately may not align with your ideals. Kinda like fashion, it's not just about liking an article of clothing by itself but seeing how you can incorporate it into your wardrobe and if it really works with your own style. The most straightforward way of leveling up in photography and progressing in your own style is just going out to shoot and edit. IMO, style is fluid and has no ceiling. Part of it is innate but I’d argue a lot of it is cultivated and thrives with continual reinvention.

The whole creative growth process is a grind and ironically, the thing holding me back from moving forward are the ideas I'm trying to iron out - I can't speak for others but that's where I'm currently at. A lot of the projects I end up finishing, regardless of medium, have typically started on a whim or some vague inspiration. I started reading a book, “The Ongoing Moment” by Geoff Dyer, and it brings up this notion - photographers simply going out to shoot and coming up with ideas (or ironing out the concept) for projects afterwards. It was a brief subtopic but was much appreciated.

In the end, I think there's gotta be some sort of surprise factor that solicits a response from the consumer. You are the consumer of your own work. Surprise yourself, or at least do your best to. Do your own photos make you feel anything?

When we're in the creative mode, we may think we need to fully understand or have predetermined every aspect of the process we follow, but is that really true?