As I began my sharing spree over on Instagram of my new releases, I noticed a pattern on my Instagram.
This group of images feel like they belong in a set. As if they belong together and I unconsciously knew I was exploring a certain look. Is it because of the type of light I captured? Is it because I captured these images on the same trip? Was I in a certain headspace that nudged me to just photograph these types of scenes? I started looking at other photos I’ve taken on other trips and I picked up a similar trend.
Photos taken in Eureka Dunes
Photos taken in the Mojave Desert
The above images in their own sets were made on their own respective trips. What is most interesting to me about the first set of images I made in the redwoods, is that these photos were all taken in very different locations (albeit in Redwood State parks/National parks). For the Mojave images I made the photos in two different locations on the same day and for the dune photos, I photographed them at the same dunes in one afternoon.
I think that the mood or feeling you are in when you are out making images can directly affect the scenes you photograph and how you photograph them. It is very easy for one to say “well duh they look the same, they were taken at the same location/same light”. And to those people I say sure but what if? What if you visit the same dunes the very next day but have a terrible morning. What if you visit the same forest and a family member of yours has fallen ill. Wouldn’t we be naive to think that just because it is the same location that we would take the same photos under a different context? We know weather can take a major play into landscape photography but for scenes where the sky is stripped from the scene, how can we evaluate the similar characteristics among the sets?
I had always felt that the photos I make on different trips are altered by my mood or current state of being. It’s fun to pick from my library of images and figure out what sets of photos were taken the same day, on the same trip, etc.
As people, I feel like we are molded by what we consume (media,art,books,music,etc.) or what we have experienced. In photography, I think an image can be viewed from two angles: what is found within the frame and the photographer. It is the combination of the exact moment that is captured in your frame and the experiences within the period from your date of birth to the day you captured that image. One is a static image and the other is a long period of experiences, joys, and losses being shown in a photograph.
As said by Ansel Adams:
“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
