Saturday, 18 April 2009

A Week in the Sun - and some reflection


It's amazing what a week in sunshine does for the spirits!  I returned yesterday with a crazy schedule of new portraits to complete - five sessions in a single day...exhausting for someone who nowadays shies away from hard work...  

However I now have, for better or worse, a clear methodology and a clearer concept to work with and a very finite timescale in which to complete.  By next Wednesday evening I will have a complete set of pictures and the broad outline for the text.  Putting me hopefully in the right place for the following Wednesday when we return to the programme (with a draft essay in hand).

I've not yet studied yesterday's images but at least the project now 'feels' right - my gut instinct is that the images look stronger and more coherent when I look down the lens.  And a bonus is that the niggling details...positioning, edges, sitters movements and gestures, expressions and so on can be concentrated upon because the basic compositional format has been resolved.

In addition my strongest impulse, to formalize the composition and unclutter the frame, fits with my natural inclinations as an artist.  Despite the indexical nature of the photograph, inspite of it, I'm making the pictures bend to my way of seeing.  So at least I'm happier with the outcomes...though whether the markers will remains to be seen.

And as an illustration - a holiday landscape, 'them thar hills', Apuane Alps, to be exact...with a few drops of rain amongst glorious sunshine!

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