This is about half the length and content that will go into the final slideshow which follows my sister’s journey through graduation. The project is for my Documentary Photography class. The full slideshow will come next week!
NOTE: At the end of the slideshow, the pictures move really fast, that is because I am planning to add more audio and more pictures. The final show will be about twice as long as this.
“Early in the morning, Gretel had to go out and hang up the cauldron with the water, and light the fire. “We will bake first,” said the old woman, “I have already heated the oven, and kneaded the dough.” She pushed poor Gretel out to the oven, from which flames of fire were already darting. “Creep in,” said the witch, “and see if it is properly heated, so that we can put the bread in.” And once Gretel was inside, she intended to shut the oven and let her bake in it, and then she would eat her, too. But Gretel saw what she had in mind, and said: “I do not know how I am to do it; how do I get in?” “Silly goose,” said the old woman. “The door is big enough; just look, I can get in myself!” and she crept up and thrust her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a push that drove her far into it, and shut the iron door, and fastened the bolt. Oh then she began to howl quite horribly, but Gretel ran away, and the godless witch was miserably burnt to death.”
I am interested in Gretel in the story of Hansel and Gretel. She ultimately ends up taking matters into her own hands, saving herself and her brother, while also “cooking” the witch. I focused on two elements of Gretel’s character, her strength and vindication, and also her remorse. Gretel ran away because she could not stand the witch’s screams. Whether witch or not, “cooking” someone alive is simply macabre. I continually notice these unexpected elements in Grimm’s fairy tales (among others), themes such as innocent children committing horrendous murder, because circumstances force them to, of course. It is the common motif of good versus evil, one that is so blatantly prevalent in Grimm’s fairy tales.
This shoot was rather challenging ( and unpleasant, for both the model and I). The “oven” is a fallen, rotted tree’s roots. Inside, the ground is sinking mud. Not just any mud, but the kind that you can sink into if you stand in one place for too long. In addition, there were hoards of bugs. I still have bug bites to show for it! To achieve the lighting, I had to use three strobes through a satin white umbrella (camera left) in order to bring the tree and the shadowy forest in balance with the ambient light streaming through the trees behind. For the “oven” I rented a fog machine (and a generator to power it). I hid the fog macine in the corner by the model and bounced a red gelled strobe off white garbage bags. I had to thread the cord of the fog machine through the side of the tree because the generator was too big to fit in that corner!
Below are a few of the outtakes, it was difficult to get the smoke and the models pose to come all together in one shot.
On May 8th, Saint Martin’s University held their Commencement ceremony. The day marked the official end of Krinda’s undergraduate journey. 
It was exciting, stressful, and surreal all at the same time for Krinda. Grandparents, friends, and my family came from all over the state to support her.
I remember Krinda telling me a few weeks ago that she cried on the last day of one of her classes. She says she will actually miss school. When graduation day finally came, I could tell she had mixed emotions about leaving Saint Martin’s.
As Krinda began her valedictorian speech, she shouted out with confidence, “Just checkin’ to see if everyones awake…everybody awake out there?” The crowd roared with applause and laughter (I personally think it was because the previous speaker was quite boring and long winded).
Later that night, friends gathered to celebrate with Krinda and two of her graduating friends.
Krinda and her brother, Capt. Nathan Carlson, contemplate a question raised in a game at her graduation party.
“Over in a corner between two houses…she sat down and huddled. She tucked her tiny legs under her, but she froze even more..Alas! One little match would do so much good!…It was a warm clear flame…the matches shone with such a radiance it was brighter than the light of day…The morning of the New Year dawned over the little body sitting with the matches, of which a bunch was almost burnt up. She had wanted to warm herself, it was said…”
The Little Match Girl is a tragic story, yet it is beautiful in a way. The little peasant girl sold no matches on New Year’s Eve, so she lights them for warmth. Each time she lights one, she sees something wonderful. The first time it’s a warm fire, the second a table with a feast on it, the third a beautiful Christmas tree, and finally she sees her Grandmother as she is lighting her last matches. Her grandmother is the one who takes her to heaven. “She [Grandmother] lifted up the little girl in her arms, and in radiance and rejoicing they flew so high, so high. And there was no cold, no hunger, no fear-they were with God”.
I wanted to focus on the mixed beauty and tragedy of this story. We connect fairy tales with “happily ever afters” and dreams coming true, but that is not how Andersen writes. Many of his stories are sad, strange, and downright weird. I’m drawn to The Little Match Girl because of the character’s vulnerability. She is so fragile and her death so tragic, but the sweet note of the story is the way it ends. In a way, she does have a “happily ever after”, just not in the way one would expect.
It probably is evident to the observant eye that I “faked” the match light (no match would ever throw that much light, and in order to burn it in, the shutter would have to be dragged way to long to get a sharp picture). I had a snoot with 2 full CTO gels on it aimed at Marlee’s (my great little model) face. It was really difficult to get the snoot placed just right since it was such a narrow beam of light, and it was also challenging to make sure that the match didn’t cast a shadow on her face from the strobe, which would have given away my “fake”. Also, even the slightest amount of wind blew out the match, so I had to work very quickly. The other light is one strobe zoomed to 70mm with a 1/2 CTB gel aimed at the wall for added depth and a “cold” feeling.
Many thanks to Marlee, Rhonda, and Cortney for helping out on this one!
Source: Andersen’s Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Andersen
In a previous post, I explained how I wanted to redo the “Death’s Messenger” shot by the cemetery gates. I reshot it last Friday, here are the results:
Here is the original photo with a diagram of how I wanted to change it:
I did not add water to the path, nor did I use a back light (the sun did that job). I did balance my camera to tungsten in order to “cool” down the warm sunset, then I warmed up my strobes with full CTO gels in order to bring them back to white. In Photoshop, I removed a lot of that awful cyan color (awful in my opinion) that is so prevalent whenever you use the tungsten white balance in daylight. I’m still not sure if I’m happy with the color, but I know that I want the image to feel cool in tone and creepy in mood. So you can see the effect of color balancing strobes and using tungsten white balance, here is what the image would have looked like had I used auto white balance in camera. Note the orange color of the strobes because of the CTO gels and the yellowness of the sun:
On a side note, I actually had a run in with the campus security at SMU during this shoot! The security guard inquired about what I was doing, and I calmly explained. He was kind enough to let me finish the shoot.
Outside the market area on the first floor of the Library Building at the Evergreen State College, a few of my prints are on display! Just four from my fairy tale/mythology series are up…more to come during Week 10 of this quarter. If you get a chance, go have a look!
Tom Chambers’ photomontages are both surreal and magical. He combines an element of whimsy to even his most compelling and somewhat macabre images (like the photo below).
Chambers has a background in graphic design, but he has been working in photomontage since 1998. His process and work flow are interesting. In an interview with Shots magazine, Chambers reveals that a montage can sometimes take up to a month to put together, depending upon how long it takes him to get all the individual shots. He shoots digitally with a Nikon as well as with medium format film, scanning his negatives and editing in Photoshop. When asked how he knows if a particular montage is “working”, Chambers replied, “My rule of thumb is to create an image that is possible in reality, but not probable.”
I too am interested in constructing “improbable” realities. That is why I use photography as a means of expressing the fantastical scenes and motifs in fairy tales. I feel people believe a photo more readily than a painting or drawing; it has an aura of truth around it. This aura is produced by the “myth of photographic truth”, as it has been called; however, with the advent and prolific use of digital manipulation, I believe it has become more and more of an oxymoron.
Chambers Rite of Passage series is really powerful. He combines imagery of young women in fancy, vintage costume with stark images of nature. He poses his the models and has them interact with their environments in such a way that they seem oblivious, or at least unaware, of all that is around them. Chambers describes the series on his website:
“In composing a variety of stark, woodland settings in contrast with a billowy dress or other man-made articles, I explore the dichotomy between what is natural and what is fabricated. Why do people costumed in formal dress seem so omnipotent on the street, yet so vulnerable in the wild? Each of these photomontages explores a place where unexpected circumstances collide.”
As I am struggling to define what makes a successful fantasy image (while still holding a pretense in reality), I find Chambers’ words encouraging. It is not how fantastical or elaborate I make a photograph that is important. Rather the fantasy is found in instances where “unexpected circumstances collide”…where the improbable meets reality.
Sources:
http://www.photoeye.com/Gallery (for images)
http://www.tomchambersphoto.com
Shots Magazine, Porfolio Issue: Winter 2008
This past week has been really busy for Krinda. She had Scholar’s Day and a presentation on Tuesday, Senior Thesis Defense on Friday, and her last season track meet on Saturday.
Krinda is awarded to the All Conference Academic Team in Track and Cross Country
Krinda presents her "Letters of Worth" autobiography from her Spiritual Autobiography Class.
While I was super proud of her, I definitely did not envy her, having to speak in front of all those people! And her senior thesis defense was pretty nerve racking, but she pulled through excellently (of course)!
Krinda waits to give her senior thesis presentaion.
Saturday was a pretty emotional day not only for Krinda, but for me as well. I have a lot more photos but I’ll only post a few for now.
SMU teammates pray before the 800m Run.
As a class assignment in Documentary Photography, we had an option of participating in the Photo Center Northwest Long Shot Photo-thon. The event is open to anyone and everyone. The idea is to photograph for a full twenty-four hour period, asking people to pledge money for every hour you shoot. It is designed to raise funds for the Photo Center NW and to support local photographers and artists. Shooting for a day straight? And for a good cause? What fun!
So, the Photo-thon kicked off Friday night at 6 PM and ended at 6 PM on Saturday. My classmate Miranda and I wanted to choose a theme so we wouldn’t be wandering around aimlessly with our cameras. I remembered London based “street” photographer Nick Turpin whose street portraits are really dramatic and interesting. He uses snooted strobes balanced with ambient light to create mini studios on the street and to add drama to everyday scenes. I particularly liked his Bridge series. So, Miranda and I decided to do street portraits Friday night, a la “Strobist” style.
Our first set-up was on the path near Capital Lake. Since it was cold and gloomy, there were not very many people out and about. Plus, because this was the first time I’ve ever asked strangers to take their portraits (I’m naturally shy), I think I overcompensated and got a little too enthusiastic. I practically ran at the first person I asked, explaining I was doing a project and if I could take her picture. She just stared at me and shook her head. After that, I learned to be a little more subtle.
Since the walkers and joggers around Capital Lake were getting very few and far in between, we decided to pack up and move to a more central location downtown.
We decided on this orange wall near 4th Street. As it got darker, the street lamps shining through the trees created some pretty crazy shadows. I was amazed at how many people consented to having their photo taken. Some kid even asked me if it cost money! “No, not at all!” I replied.
I was also intrigued by all the different characters we met. There are definitely some crazies out there. We couldn’t get this one guy to leave us alone; he must have talked to us about nonsense for fifteen minutes straight. I just looked at Miranda, pretending to listen but really trying not to laugh. A few people were really interested in what we were doing; a lot of people asked me what kind of camera I was using. Some people even thought our snooted flash was some sort of “gun”…uh it is “flash gun”, I guess!
The photo above is by far my favorite from the evening. This man consented to having his photo taken so graciously. I titled it “Memories” because he looks like he is really contemplating something.
These two were an interesting pair. They really got into posing and talked with us for a while afterward. It is interesting how taking someone’s portrait can establish a form of connection; I found that sometimes the person you are photographing will open up to you and tell you things about their lives that you would have never even asked about!
This was a fun couple. Before the photo the girl asked me if she needed to get rid of her cigarette. I said, “No!” I like how it adds a little red glow to her hand.
I found another photographer participating in the Long Shot Photo-thon!
For our last set-up, we moved around the corner and bounced the light off a shop window (there is also a snooted strobe below the person for a highlight).
I love this photo. He was distracted by some loud street noises and gave me this adorable, timid look! However , by this time it was almost ten o’clock. Miranda and I were both tired and a little wary because of the arrival of more and more shady characters. We decided to call it a night… we were both too tired to try and shoot through the night. So we decided to resume the Photo-thon the next day.
Saturday morning I had a track meet to go to…along came camera. I was not only photographing for the Long Shot project, but also for my final project in Documentary Photography (a story on my sister’s last few weeks at college).
I mostly focused on photographing my sister, but I got a few other interesting shots like the one above.
Participating in the Long Shot Photo-thon was really fun and really exhausting… and I didn’t even make it the full twenty-four hours! Now I just need to decide which ten images to submit. Out of the ten that a participant sends, at least one if chosen for inclusion in the Long Shot Exhibition on June 4th!
