“I’m sorry you didn’t make it”

19th March 2015

 

With any project, the more you shoot the more you evict images from the edit. I’m holding back on showing works in progress as I am still very much figuring out the direction I am taking, what I am exploring, and how. This weekend is Photo-Meet (https://photomeet.org/) and I am thrilled to be involved although I am in need of some brutal constructive advice myself.
I thought I would post an image from one of the earlier trips I took to Romania. As the project is progressing I am realizing that the images I am seeking to create need to be layered and slightly more complex. This requires a lot of trial and error, brain / heart ache…and a damn well lot of patience

I often describe my photography like my voice. I cringe when I hear it back but I have to learn to accept that it’s my way of expressing myself; it’s instinctive and innate. So when editing my work, I try to think about all of the things I dislike about the image and why I chose to create them, what I can learn from them.

This image is from the first trip I ever took with Andrei and Gabi. The light was perfect and I saw the couple on the fly as we rolled through the streets of Maramures. I recall thinking how I didn’t want to place them in the middle of the road but every time I tried to construct the environment around them nothing felt as fitting as doing so. I surrendered and took this shot. I try not to ever just ‘dump’ someone in the middle and instead tend to paint my background around my subjects, which often results in them lying central. Perhaps this method is greatly flawed or too simplistic and it’s important to challenge it… after all, that’s how I learn. I guess a lot of a photographer’s vision is just instinct and it would be terrifying is there was a simple rule or method I followed each time. I like the rubix cube challenge of environment and subject…patiently slotting each piece into place…OAO x