Literature- Audry Niffenegger.

‎"think for a minute darling; in the fairy tales its always the children who have the fine adventures. the mothers have to stay at home and wait for the children to fly in the window"- Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Travellers Wife.

Ok so for this quote I had a couple of ideas on how to interpret it.

one was having the child flying into the window like this...

I did like this image, the cheeky smile andrew has seemed to capture the type of child I imagine is being spoke of- ones that sneak off in the night to meet there friends, or climb down the pipe just to say goodbye to a leaving friend.

however as i thought more about the quote, i felt that cheeky is not the tone of the quote, and thats why i felt that this image wasnt sparkling for me..

so then i tried adding in the mother in the background but the frame felt too crowded and there is nothing worse than an overcrowded frame.

so i did one with just the mother.

the same floating scene,

just her looking out into the wide world of adventure, waiting for the child to fly home.

And this is the image i ended with.

not too complicated,

but i guess not everything has to be complicated all the time.

i like an uncomplicated life.

however this shot was difficult, we trekked all around the house to find the perfect window.

and in the end i edited the image back to the first window we had,

but not before andrew dropped her....

oops.

Literature- Charles Dickens.

Well, I've started this project, based around the books i love.

so my first image that i've completed was based around a quote from Charles Dickens': Great Expectations...

"heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the binding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts"

I came up with a few ideas, mainly based around the idea of someone lying in the dust when its raining, mingling with the dirt and crying, completely unashamed. 

however the day i chose to do the shoot, was freeeezing, so i didnt really want my poor friend outside rolling around in the cold AND the rain.

so I did what any photographer would do and rethought my idea.

so plan be was the shower!

I started off with the flash going off so that the water droplets were defined and obvious..

but that was unflattering for joanna, so i made use of the wonderful overhead light in their shower and tested out all the lighting doodars. 

I ended with this image, which i am very happy with-- although there is not the symbolism of the rain, there is the more powerful symbolism of the tears,

two gentle tears,

almost hidden amongst the wet and washed out face.

the light from above creates a wonderfully creepy atmosphere, highlighting the tears and her face....

just a little out-take of my wonderful friend finishing up in the shower...

it got nice and steamy in the end which helped create all sorts of serendipities... 

(:

The Widow.

I recently undertook the first fine art project for the foundation diploma i'm doing...
it was based on War.
it slowly developed into the idea of capturing those who were left behind and their memories of their loved ones..
I found this amazing photographer called Jennifer Karady who has done some work with those american soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan and the problems they are facing at home.
I found this story from a widow, and I really wanted to produce my own images around this story, like Karady had done...
heres the story-


“I don’t really remember much about the day I found out about his death. I remember thinking “oh God how am I going to tell the girls?” but other than that I think I was just numb. A number of the lady’s from the church came over and came and spoke to me, they kept trying to tell me over and over again, that he died for a good reason, and that I should be blessed to have had such a wonderful husband. “Blessed?” I kept thinking. How on earth am I blessed? But anyway, life had to go on, for the girl’s sake at least. He died over 2 years ago now out in Iraq.
It’s weird though; I guess I didn’t really deal with it as well as I should have. I keep having this dream, every now and again, that it’s our wedding day. The dream starts with me just running around trying to find him, like he got lost in the park or something silly. I’m running around looking, slowly getting more and more worried that I haven’t found him yet. As I’m running around I keep hearing his voice, calling me; I know it sounds like one of those cheesy movies, doesn’t it? But anyway, I’m running around trying to follow the sound of his voice. I end up by this tree, and Its blowing madly in the wind and I cant see anything because I’m so disorientated- and as I see theses leaves being ripped from their branches by the wind it dawns on me that he’s dead. And that’s when the dream ends.
Its weird that nature features so much in it- we’re really not nature people, despite the fact that both our girls are scouts. But to be honest with you- I kind of like the dream, it reminds me of him. Is that weird?”
here are some of the images I ended up taking...

I really love this image, the static nature of the model juxtaposes the frantic nature of the story and how running around trying to find her husband would be. The dress however feels very ghost-like and captures a wonderful atmosphere....

 this one is stunning for me, the dress and hair distorting her face, everything...

Her hair, her face, everything... i just love it!

Editing photos for me is something that is really important.. although I can take images without the need for editing some images i feel need the extra umph i guess... 

These two images were some of my first interpretations. However my tutors didnt think that they worked as well to fit with the story- I disagreed, however If I want the marks, well yeah you know....

So I created some more that were slightly more haunting....

I love how in these ones there is two different images, the frantic and the static, the solid, and the faded... 

I'll find out how i did on these tomorrow....

x

for you.

Dear sarah..

this blog is for you,
for you to keep track of your life.
and when your old and made a name for yourself in the photography world- come back and look through your ideas, your processes and your thoughts.
and no matter where in the world you are- you can look and create what makes you happy!

love your 18year old self.