Monday, February 16, 2009

Fear

A couple of images inspired by something my kung fu instructor said on Saturday. He was talking about what happens to our vision when we get really frightened and how it narrows and can disappear almost entirely so we have to learn how to defend ourselves even when we cant see. That immediately made me think of why photographs that have a blurry outline can be so emotional for people. I think it triggers a fear response. So I grabbed the Lensbaby and took a few shots that for me were kinda scary.

They are shots of dark rooms beyond the light. So dark that you cant see your hand reaching for the light switch and anything can grab it at any time and you would never see it coming.



4 comments:

Kelly said...

I'm liking these--a lot, but want a little more information. Right now, they are abstract, but a little too tough for me to read to get the scary thing you are talking about. I get a bit of it because I can just make out the fact that in the first one, you are in a darkened room with a doorway into a very dark room. The second one also has an unsettling feeling, and this is probably due to the fact that I can sense the space a bit and recognize a window or doorway, but without just a pinch more info, I'm not quite getting the thing you're talking about. I understand it though, and what your kung fu expert was telling you makes perfect sense, and I think this is a really great concept to follow up on. You could do some real searching with this and build up a great series. I'd like to read the resulting artist's statement too. Very interesting.

I'll have to read up on what you mentioned in the previous post about what Steiglitz said.....or was it something White said about Steiglitz? I'll probably forget to look that up though. Hopefully I'll have some new stuff up soon. Been really busy again this semester.

Erin McGuire said...

I totally get what your saying but I dont really know what more to add to add to make the story more clear. That is part of my problem with shots like this. I really want to tell a story but really know how. Can you make some suggestions? I know that you cant see the surrounds but just make up your own perfect surroundings if you want. Whatever you want to help describe what you mean. Like maybe a ghost of a human outline in the dark room or maybe more space between the lens and the dark room. Is that what you mean? Now I have two concepts to follow up on, the window and door and fear. I am also getting very interested in the night photography shots Im seeing. I have no idea what I would shoot but I really never do until I start shooting.

Hope you are getting enough sleep with how busy you are with school. Oh, the Steiglitz thing was about the Equivalents. I have a hard time with that idea. Its about a photograph being more than what meets the eye and the example they gave in class was a Minor White shot of a wave on a beach.

Kelly said...

I guess that what is missing for me is what the lensbaby has blurred out. I went back and looked again, and it seems like the light falls off enough around the frame to make you search for where you might be, and to obscure it even more with a heavy blur confuses me too much? I'm not sure. Maybe it's the lack of sleep--haha. I actually lost an hour today. Walked into class an hour late, and I thought I was perfectly on time. It was a seriously surreal moment. Having been up all night working on images for that class definitely had something to do with that. Weird.

Erin McGuire said...

I freaking HATE it when that happens. I havent had it happen in a while but remember very clearly the last time it did. It was for the fall festival in October. Its a festival put on the by the masters of the system I train. Anyway, I planned it all out the night before, what time I would get up, what I would leave, what time I would get there. I kept thinking that I would be there like 30 minutes early but that would be ok. Then as I am leaving I look down at the clock on my truck and think WTF? How can it be 10:15? I had to be there at 11 and the place was all the way in Burbank, at least an hour and a half away. It was so weird. I kept checking with myself and my times and realized that I had planned everything an hour later than I should have. Even the night before! I mean that lost hour lasted for more than 24 hours and I still didnt catch on.