It is all about the light

A photography focus group I am part of has decided to apply for a group show, highlighting connections in diptychs.  Since this is something new to me (I’ve not worked in diptychs before), I have decided to blog about my process. 

If you are unfamiliar with the idea of working in diptychs (as I am), one group member found a useful link to a video about it. As I understand it, the idea is to match photographs that, together, tell a story.

THE ARCHIVES, A TIME SINK

Since we are scheduled to bring prints of our ideas in the end of April to discuss with the group, I decided to begin with my “archives”, looking for random pairs of photos that activate a connection in my brain (no pun intended). 

I have my raw DSLR photos since 2017 arranged by year, then by place. I also have folders with my stock photos since that year. Those folders, corresponding to each year of stock photography, contain photos that have been processed and are keyworded.

I sure needed a refreshment of what’s in my files. The process of looking for random photos to pair up turned out into a huge time sink. Hours of browsing revealed very few pairs and the pairs didn’t “go together” with one another. I knew I needed a different strategy.

THEMES

Following my attempt at pairing random photos, I decided that I want my collection to work together in terms of style and theme. After all, I tend to work in projects. There are a few recurrent themes in my photography, some of which are outlined below.

Fog

One of these trees was in one of my first blog posts, UFO at the Arroyo Park. I also have a few other posts where fog is the main theme. One caveat is that, in the context of a show, fog photographs are difficult to print “right” and make the “white” portion consistent across the board. I may be able to come up with five such diptychs. They are consistent in theme and may provide a beautiful addition to someone’s wall. However, these pairs are not very “clever” in the sense that they do NOT make the viewer “think”. They are just photos of trees in fog. 

Patterns in textures

I have a great number of photographs of textures and patterns, which I have successfully licensed through my stock photography. Customers are always looking for textures and backgrounds. Pairing them up, however, is a drag. In the composition below, photos 2, 3 and 4 are rocks from Salt Point State Park and photo 1 is the bark of a Madrone tree. In these diptychs I highlight how one texture complements the other in the sequence. I don’t know how many “clever” pairs I can provide. 

Time

That I am fascinated with the idea of the passage of time is not an understatement. For this theme, I would be looking for photographs such as those below, which first appeared in my blog in my post Embracing the Wisdom of the Ocean: Finding Serenity in Waves of Change. 

I don’t know how many pairs I could come up with for this theme, but I think the possibilities are unlimited. Thematically, however, there is a danger that my approach will “go down the rabbit hole”, given my tendency to create morbid stories. For example, I just caught myself stitching together the photo of a cow with the photo of the skull of a cow. I need to keep in mind that people will not entertain buying wall art portraying skeletons, wilting flowers, rotting logs, skulls, cemetery thumb-stones etc!

Horses

Although not a recurrent theme in my photography, I have re-discovered in my archives photographs of wild horses that I took years ago and never did anything with. Besides the duo from the triptychs I published in “Wild Horse Photography in Public Lands”, repeated below for convenience, I have about six pairs of photographs that might turn out both pretty and interesting. I have ordered test prints of those, to scrutinize (sometimes a photo looks good on the screen but printing reveals that it has flaws).

CONCLUSION

While I wait for the horse prints, I’m considering a short trip somewhere to photograph textures as a backup plan. The first place that came to my mind is Salt Point State Park in Sonoma County, because it presents many rock textures. Regardless of where I go, It’s easier to take photos for a project than it is to assemble photos retrospectively for the same project. Knowing what I am looking for will make the process a little easier and there is a plus: that park is covered in wildflowers in May. 

And of course, lets’ see what the group will say about these ideas, since it’s a joint project involving seven people. 

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Wall Art Botanical Images

Wall Art Photography projects

Wall Art Landscapes

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