Polarities

reflecting on my first photography class

That’s right! Ever the wanna be photographer, however never taking a course, I was sick of my excuses and procrastination. Photography is something I am a huge fan of, but know little to nothing about. So with my friend miranda deely for moral support, we both bit the bullet and signed up. It’s been 4 introductory classes so far with 6 more to go. And I think it’s safe to say I’m hooked.

Partly because, for whatever reason, I even managed to ace the first assignment. I was as shocked as anybody when last Thursday the instructor asked me to present my project to the class, then talk a bit about the process of making it and the intention behind it. Not a task one normally wants to assign to a writer, unless you have at least 45 minutes or longer. I think he was a bit surprised by my enthusiasm. Or so it sounded when he told me he was impressed by my “thorough consideration” of the project. From a teaching perspective, whenever I’ve offered that comment as feedback, it’s often meant to say, “let’s not overthink this.”

Oh well, I’m having fun and at this point that’s good enough for me. The following is a loose description of the work and the assignment. With of course, examples!

Assignment: Use the same picture to create two very different moods, through the use of lighting, color, and presentation. We then had to come up with a name that resonated with the project.

Yes, that is indeed me, with my dog Frisky.

POLARITIES:

The term polarity is understood to mean:

• the relative orientation of poles; the direction of a magnetic or electric field.
• having two opposite or contradictory tendencies, opinions, or aspects.

A less formal understanding of polarities might be similar to an either or scenario.

My project was a consideration on what may be missing when we reference and experience the world through a binary frame. If I followed my instincts and considered the final images visually, one of the first things that came up for me was the idea of abundance vs deficit. The saturated, bright color photos have an emotional quality that is rich, satisfied, and curious. In the presence of that reaction, it becomes easy, even convenient to view the bleached out image as lacking aesthetically. But is that an accurate assessment? If so, by what metric, and who decides? Would the reaction be the same if they were appreciated separate from each other without the inevitable “which is better?” The answer to that, is, of course, is completely individual.

To a degree, my intention behind this was to recognize there exists a vast and largely unknown space between the assured feeling of the all or nothing summation. One that is home to an infinite number of difficult and complicated realities. The stark, pale, washed out hues on the right compete, and stand in contrast to, the same image on the left which in some cases exhibits a freakishly saturated technicolor. While an individual view of either piece might elicit subtle reactions, when considered side by side the differences in tones and hues are visceral, intense, and opinions are unambiguous as to which piece is ultimately preferred. And that is the inherent beauty of art; from an instinctual and esoteric reference, it’s all completely subjective.

Concerned about using pre made image filters and how my reaction might be biased if I knew what to expect, I worked from scratch with the adjustment tools in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC and Photoshop Elements. Both the saturating and bleaching of the original photos proved decidedly imprecise as a process; an appropriate, albeit imperfect metaphor when considering an individuals constantly shifting gradients and perspectives.

In 2006 Allan left a career as a flight paramedic to obtain his MFA in creative nonfiction. Today he is a qualitative public health researcher exploring intersections of HIV, PTSD, and stigma using a narrative focused model of inquiry. The managing editor for Special Editions at daCunha, and the creator and editorial director of Crossin(G)enres, Starbucks, satire, and stray dogs do not displease him.