This isn’t a full project in the sense that it isn’t complete. It’s something I am just beginning to explore. I want to play with the human vs. landscape scale. What does it mean for a person to be fully embedded in a landscape? This is my first time really trying out self portraiture and my first time cropping to a cinemascope panoramic ratio. These images felt like they were asking to be panoramic. This morning was very humid and misty. On the second image, I didn’t realize my lens had fogged up. It created a soft very bloom heavy effect that I think works for the photo.
Self Critique
I’m not sure where this project will go. I keep coming back to themes of in-between-ness and transitions in my work. I’d like to explore more in this direction and see what may come of it.
Creative Direction
The warm sepia tone that I started using recently feels like ‘me’ and my voice, so using that for this project feels right. I’m unsure about the long term vision. Do these images bring up any thoughts or emotions for you?
Specific Feedback
Any feedback is welcome, looking for thoughts on this new direction.
I like your plan, Lynsie, and that you are sharing it before it has fully taken shape.
I’ll be curious to read other people’s impressions, but for me, the sepia tone and the cinematic ratio make this feel both intimate and epic. The palette creates both a sense of nostalgia and the dreamy, late summer, early fall feeling in nature. Both of those speak to a mid-life (or mid-evolution) kind of reflection on the self and one’s place in a larger world.
I love these first two, and I love the idea of self portrait in a natural setting.
Are you familiar with Anne Brigman? If not, you might research her and her work a bit once you have allowed the project to take shape organically.
Thank you Marylynne for the very thoughtful comment! My work recently has been about being in the messy middle of a process, it still being murky and unclear as to the final result, so it’s good to know that those themes are coming through. I want to explore questions of ‘when is a person part of a landscape, when are they separate from it, and when do they disappear entirely’. I hadn’t come across Anne Brigman’s work, thank you for the recommendation! I also like to use poetry to explore the same themes as my photography, so her work is inspiring on many levels. After reading your comment, it became clear to me that this series needs to be called “In the Midst” rather than “In the Mist”.
I love your project and can hardly wait to see more of it. However, it might be difficult to find these conditions again and it seems that you would need them to make the project consistent. I also liked some of the ideas you’re pursuing. Btw, I almost didn’t find you in the second image. I sort of think that’s what you’re after. To be and not to be in the scene.
My impression was that I was looking at the past. The past is never clear and always a faded memory. I thought this was recollecting the past as you see it now.
Wonderful! I love that you stuck with the panoramic crop and the sepia tone for both, and it would be fun to see if you can keep that going.
I agree with Igor that fog is an essential part of the series, so I’d keep chasing it even if it is difficult to find. You might use fog-index.com to help you find it.
Personally, I think it would intriguing if you changed directions for some of the future photos. For example facing the distance or to the right, maybe even strike a dancer’s pose or borrow a violin to carry (well, okay, maybe that’s too much). Any way, run with the whimsical and dreamy theme, it works very well here.
Very nice! I like both photos but I’m partial to the second. I like the fact that I don’t see you immediately. The second one also has more mystery than the first.
@Igor_Doncov@John_Williams Yes, at first I was going to call it “In the Mist” and I thought about how I would need to find similar conditions. I think by changing the name to “In the Midst” it can hold more variation. I like working in diptychs as well, so moving forward I may have each environmental pairing as their own contained stories. @Don_Peters I agree, the second one is more successful, the atmosphere collaborating by fogging the lens.
