and now our second month is almost finished...
i'm very pleased with the quality of the photos our participants have been submitting, and there have been so very interesting combinations. one thing that i have been curious about is whether or not the participants have consciously altered or chosen their images based on the first month's pieces, and whether their choices are being affected as we move forward? if so, how? are you anticipating a particular placement or tone for the text?
once again, i'd be very interested in your responses to our previous questions:
- which combinations are more effective or resonant for you? why do you think that is?
- which pieces don't work for you? why do you think that is?
please consider revisiting past pieces and commenting or re-commenting on them. as the collaboration moves forward, it would be good to see if the ongoing narrative impacts how we read past collaborations.
thanks again to those viewing and/or participating.
As a participating photographer, I'd have to admit to having future submissions affected by past text and placement. There are images that I start to see in my collection as "eLABorations" images - in fact I tag them as such as I go through albums. Generally, these are images that include mystery of some sort and a strong "feel" to them. I feel like, by communicating something strongly themselves, they are well set up for either strong affirmation or strong contradiction from the supplied text. I'm also starting to group my two images with themes. Last time around, my images took on a "noir" or "spy-like" theme, which is interesting as the text was about hidden exchanges. This coming month I've selected images that reflect the extremes of environments - one natural and one urban. I think choosing opposites this way will lead to an interesting juxtaposition when the text is introduced.
ReplyDeleteAs a photographer, I'm having a lot of fun with the surprises that this project brings, so rather than try and engineer my images along the lines of an emerging narrative, I'm trying instead to make the combination challenging. I suppose I'm trying to engineer surprise and serendipity, which means I've already failed. I find it really hard to ignore all I know though. Perhaps one month I'll have to go totally random, but for some reason I like this way better.
As for composition, I'm trying to avoid images where there is a high contrast through the whole image, as I know neither black nor white text will show up well. I wouldn't say I'm trying to create a frame around the center, where the text has been so far, but I cannot honestly say whether I am or not. Subconsciously at least, I must be. I'm a graphic designer. I can't help it!
thanks dave. i appreciate you sharing your process, and your honesty. i think that participants will be making more adjustments and choices than i will. that said, you will notice some more changes this month as i try to keep you on your toes...
ReplyDeleteit is interesting seeing how some of the images shift when text is applied to them. it might be interesting at the end to try all the possible combinations. so - were there any pieces during february that you found especially resonant? why or why not?
I thought about this quite a bit while I was choosing images for March. I agree with Dave that my choices have been affected now that I know what you want to do with them. I found myself picking out images that have a strong theme or subtext of their own and steering away from more bland or neutral images. Part of the reason for that is that those are the ones that have resonated meaning for me. I must admit I haven't paid any conscious attention to or tried to second-guess composition.
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