Vision:
Following my mind map, I find my vision correlated with the idea, “Under a shift.” “Under a shift” is a broad term, and I find it applied to many different aspects of everyday life, myself and objects around me change and shift. By creating my vision in this way, I find it a method to record the changes around me and how I grow as a person myself. Through this idea, I want the audience to notice the shifts in small details, or larger ones surrounding them, to be warm by recording memories or analyzing current situations and providing a brighter interpretation.
To achieve this, I would search for inspiration through photographers that utilize the elements of Lines, Texture, and Tones. Through this, I prefer to see a. focus on lighting and motion which can be seen daily.
Though people are similar in many ways, we undergo slight changes. This can impact our surroundings, and as shifts differentiate in complexity depending on the mood of one another, how we capture the change reflects on our own lives.
Saul Leiter’s work and analysis:
- Saul Leiter’s work frequently utilizes value/tone and texture, usually presented through lighting and preferences.
- Many of these pictures consist of hats, umbrellas, and other sheltering areas, conveying a sense of an observant perspective under a camera, viewing the world in diverse attitudes and emotions.
- In addition, these pictures somewhat convey a feeling of protection and suppression of liberty due to the elements Leiter favors.
- The negativity of the point above is balanced by using negative space and different contexts with the sometimes contrasting choice of color, blurring, and reflections.
- As a result of Leiter’s style, his works seem to convey a usually focused, calm approach to his photographs and surroundings.
- The above corroborates with capturing change, which can be understood as observing.
Saul Leiter’s photographs seem to be able to capture the motion in people, as well as their belongings in their daily lives. With a darker color scheme, Leiter seems to structure and shift the focus of these pictures onto people, the center of this ‘change.’ Due to his personal preferences, many of the photos may seem cold and less warm than I would’ve preferred to present. Despite this, he also branches out to various other themes and contexts, creating a myriad of experiences with the photographs in his gallery.
According to “Saul Leiter: The Quiet Iconoclast”: “I don’t have a philosophy. I have a camera. I look into the camera and take pictures. My photographs are the tiniest part of what I see that could be photographed. They are fragments of endless possibilities.” These words seem to inform the audience of his entire ideology regarding photography. The elements of his work come from his instinct and what Leiter simply is searching for through the lens. By mentioning endless possibilities, he doesn’t limit photography by setting boundaries on the subject but instead opens it to many interpretations, encouraging others to explore it themselves.
Rain 1950s Photo
The image I prefer from the Saul Leiter gallery is named “Rain 1950s Photo.” It incorporates a linear perspective to emphasize the observant view he has of his surroundings. The tones within the photograph contrast through a gradient, while the road, reflecting light due to the rain, is almost pure white. The road reflecting all the light almost seems like the walk to heaven. However, the black & white color scheme takes the audience away from this possibility, bringing us back to reality. This unusual imagery surprises me. It creates interest in the story and thoughts of the photographer at the moment. The image is an abstract photo due to the blurriness of most elements and no specific focus on a particular subject; instead, the focus is on shapes and the tones created. Through this image and his usage of tones, I can sense Leiter’s ideology and the story he wants to convey, and this is what I want to achieve through my own photographs. To adapt to this style, I would like to experiment with simple objects and how their properties can alter the story conveyed through an image. In addition, I specifically want to focus on the usage of lighting, particularly its significance in a black & white color scheme.
My vision is to capture photographs that relate to the changes and shifts occurring around us. To achieve this, I will take photos in the style of Saul Leiter, which includes the presentation of a darker mood and usage of value/tones, space, and shapes. I am particularly inspired by “Rain 1950s Photo.” It captures the many different methods to utilize tone while displaying our surroundings’ different perspectives. Adding to this idea, I would like to take photographs of capture motion, reflecting the mood/emotion felt at a particular time under a context or my personal thoughts. Precisely, how I can convey a specific story or concept through tone and other objects symbolizing different views and stories.
Photographs – Whole Collection:
Blue photos (20-100)
The collection of the photos taken below has been chosen as they seem to present abstraction quite well. In addition to this, I focused on how lighting may play an essential role within the images, affecting the tones/values. However, compared to the previous set, I tried to enhance the comparison between tones and values, experimenting with greyscale to imitate Leiter’s preferences. Despite this, some images successfully conveyed a particular story/concept, while others were more abstract than induced with a meaningful idea. I attempted to experiment continuously with different lighting and perspectives, seen commonly in Leiter’s photographs. The idea of ‘shelter’ diminished to adapt to the current vision, and some ideas could be explored further. With a few more hours to spare, I spent more time discovering the structures in nature in an attempt to dive deeper into the different possibilities compared to my previous Photography set.
Green Photos (6-10):
Green Photos Contact Sheet (Click link to view)
Red Photos (3):
Sunset in Blur
This image from the entire collection I have amassed through taking pictures seemed to represent Leiter’s works the most. It resonates the most with the tone changes; however, due to my personal taste, I prefer images like Sunset in Blur to be colored instead of on a black & white scale, making the photograph seem colder and with no chemistry between the initial colors.
Like the other captured images, this chosen picture focuses on the element of tones/values the most, with lines, shapes, and texture to aid the atmosphere created. These elements seemed to form a harmonious image, and I particularly enjoyed how the light seemed to affect its surroundings and, therefore, what my camera was able to view. Unlike my past photos, this one was taken with the Olympus E-M1, a camera with more toggleable settings. After experimenting with it, I was able to test how the different effects, which in this case, the blur, could affect the composition as a whole.
Though initially taken without notice, the curved lines of this image’s surroundings shown on the sun and the pond really soften the atmosphere, allowing the image to be susceptible to more warmth and interpretations under a more positive light. In my personal opinion, this image seems to draw a sense of purity and peace. It may have to do with the shapes and how the light remains the more significant focus within the image, but it also may come from the little details I notice, such as the tiny dots of light that form as droplets falling down from the sun. This phenomenon recalls the occurrence in an hourglass, specifically the slow progression from large to small in the light source.
Most importantly, I would like to mention how surreal this scene is and how it is barely identifiable. It’s much more dream-like than any other image I have taken and almost draws out blankness. The blurriness makes the image extremely simple and yet just as complex. The image may vary for others as their state of mind changes, relating to my vision: “Under a Shift.”
The ultimate goal for this image is for the viewer to search for anything in themselves and be able to draw out some sense of warmth and peace, my initial feelings when I saw it for the first time. Reflecting on my previous evaluation of my photographs, I feel like I ventured further in using minor adjustments and features in a camera that can target a specific atmosphere I may want to capture. Within this particular context, it was the blur added on to Sunset in Blur. Continuing on evaluating the space of development I have, I may want to focus on different areas instead of the usual urban lifestyle many of us have come to familiarize with and look further into nature as the central aspect of inspiration instead of my given surroundings. This may require time spent in other areas, but I would be willing to explore how nature may fuse with the complexities of ordinary life. In addition, I find extreme interest in some more usage of camera settings and how it may affect my future works.
Other Red Photos:
Dusk
The other red images represent Leiter’s style, in which the usage of tones is more apparent. I experimented with a similar structured idea and enhanced the complementary colors (orange and blue) to create more visual interest. In addition, I attempted to increase the highlights to create a more prominent contrast with the darker surroundings, enhancing the texture of the water. The distinction between moving waters, which create ripples, to peaceful waters, creates a more compelling image, making the image seem somewhat surreal and disconnected from reality.
Capture
Lastly, I conclude my Red Photos with an image titled “Capture,” hinting at what I’ve done by taking this picture and what the figure has done within the image. Similar to “Dusk,” this image also takes its form through somewhat contrasting colors, red and blue, to create a comparison between people and machinery, robotic and human. This displays an exciting concept and expands my boundaries regarding Photography.
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