Shutter Sisters

In the Quiet Space

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Last fall I attended the annual ACP (Atlanta Celebrates Photography) Portfolio Review to present a body of my documentary work to gallery owners, photo editors, and curators to actively seek constructive feedback from seasoned reviewers and to create some new relationships. Like many of you, sharing words with my images comes really naturally for me. I might write about the story behind the image to give you a sense of what you can’t see, or I might share thoughts that ran through my mind during or after the process of making the image. It’s my way of processing what I see and how it makes me feel.

But what surprised me during the portfolio review, was how natural it felt to talk through the images as I moved through my prints with each reviewer. Each image stirred up a collection of thoughts that simply had to come out. I wasn’t even aware of how much my mouth moved until Sasha Wolf, my favorite reviewer of the day, stopped me. “You know, you don’t have to say so much about the images,” she said. “They really speak for themselves.”

I think about this statement often. She was right. Much of the power of photography is in the silence. The quiet space between the viewer and his/her personal experience with your image.

Why don’t you share an experience with us today – one that requires no words.

iPhone Photography Intrigue

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I’ve always been drawn to artful process of photography. I make my documentary images by selecting lenses and adjusting the settings on my DSLR. Then I rely on Aperture, my photo editing application, to make minor image adjustments. I might increase the definition of edges to emphasize the texture, tone down harsh highlights, trade color for monochrome, or add a subtle vignette to pull the viewer closer to my subject. But I don’t use Photoshop and frankly, if someone asked me to smooth out her smile lines, I’d frown. Admittedly, I use a light hand when it comes to digital image processing.

But I am becoming increasingly intrigued with iPhone Photography as a means of exploring my fascination with composition, and have just started experimenting with some clever iPhone apps. I’m finding that because I don’t take these images too seriously, I’m eager to try more liberal processing experiments on them – like making quick marks in a sketch book or scribbling phrases in a journal. I’m allowing myself to create a bit of fiction, and it’s been really fun. So if you too are looking to loosen up a bit with your iPhone, consider downloading these cool apps in the App Store and share your results with us.

ShakeItPhoto ($.99) – Like Polaroid for your iPhone, this app lets you shoot, retake and shake. Shaking your iPhone gives you a cropped and color washed Polaroid-esque image. (See my image at left, above.) Check out the ShakeItPhoto Best Of flickr group to see some super cool results and this experiment using ShakeItPhoto and another app, Colorsplash.

CameraBag ($1.99) – Quick and easy photo filters to adjust the mood of your iPhone photos. This app gives you 10 image filters such as Helga (square-format, washed out highlights and old-school vignetting) and 1974 (like your mother’s camera: faded & tinted). (See my image at right, above, with 1962 filter – high contrast B&W.) Check out the CameraBag flickr group and this fabulous set that inspired me to explore.

Got any other iPhone Photography tips or resources? Do share.

A Photographer’s Resolution to Focus

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It happens every year. As December 31st creeps in close, I feel this need to clean out the closets, clear out the clutter, organize and tag my mountain of photographs, choose my one word, and offer up a handful of resolutions to help guide the New Year. And while the first three activities deplete me, I have to admit I get a little dizzy with excitement over the one word and resolution exploratory thought process. (If you’re not familiar with Ali Edward’s one word concept, read this.)

As I continue to let my mind wander for the next four days before making my commitments to the next 365 days, I do have one resolution to share and something you might consider. Think about the idea of defining more focus with your photography in the form of a single or multi-part image series. Rather than making individual images, consider claiming a single concept or exploring a subject that intrigues you from a variety of angles. Take some time to scan through your image archive and let yourself pause on the images that stir your soul. What makes you pause? Is it the subject matter? Is it the location? What elements are common in these images? Is it a single person? A type of person? Or is it the story behind just one of your images? Write down the phrases or words that come to mind when you look at your images and see what type of connections your mind can make. If you could explore one concept in depth, what would it be?

Last weekend I started a new image series “One Family at Home” while I was snowed-in at a friend’s home in Brooklyn. After spending two days in Manhattan, I was troubled by the fact that I hadn’t shot a single image while I was in the city. Tons of interesting compositions and strangers found along the streets… yet nothing inspired me enough to even take the camera out of my backpack. But shortly after I climbed a flight of steps and walked through the door of the Simmon’s home, my soul began to stir. Real life. Deep conversations. Family dynamics. Vivid little details of family on the fridge and along the shelves. Routines. All of it just fascinated me. And so, the idea for a new series (and a 2010 New Year’s Resolution) was born. “One Family at Home”, a multi-part image series, takes you to the heart of a home and explores the presence and influence of individuals, subtle interactions, and physical possessions defining the uniqueness of a family in its most natural environment. I intend to create at least four “One Family at Home” image series by this time next year. There. I said it. Now please hold me to it.

And here are a few diverse examples of image series that might inspire you to find your focus:

Elizabeth Fleming’s Life is a Series of Small Moments

Phillip Toledano’s Days with My Father

Amy Stein’s Domesticated

Michael Loyd Young’s Blues, Booze and BBQ

Mimi Mollica’s Terra Nostra

Unedited Human Emotion

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I used to shy away from making images of people, despite my fascination with human beings. I didn’t like how people ran to the bathroom to put on lipstick or how they instinctively repositioned themselves to smooth out wrinkles and cover exposed seams. It just felt fake, and I didn’t want to be the composer. Beyond that, I had fears of bumping up against the invisible boundary of someone’s space and documenting accidental (true) expressions that might be uncomfortable for them.

Throughout most of my Project 365 experience in 2008, I found myself shooting freely in nature most often. I could creep in the woods, or linger along the fenceline on the farm and quiety hunt for compositions when the spirit moved me. My subject was completely under my control, and I could take my time to manually focus and tweak the settings on my camera to craft the ideal image. I didn’t have to think fast, deal with motion (sans slight winds), and burden my camera with the weight of an external mount flash. There was nothing artificial about shooting in nature, and it felt really comfortable for me.

But that was the problem. I was comfortable. And as I studied the images in my Project 365 archive, I found that I was emotionally so much more drawn to the smaller set of images I had made of my children – images of them immersed in the action of just being a kid. Messy hair. Chapped lips. Bounces on a trampoline. Spontaneous laughter. And the more I began to document my children, the more comfortable and exhilirated I felt bumping up against that invisible barrier and discovering a gesture or natural expression that showed me the beauty of unedited human emotion. It excited me.

For the past 12 months, I’ve been almost exclusively drawn to documenting people in their natural environments and my approach to shooting has changed so much. I keep a loser grip over composition in exchange for a tighter auto-focus on capturing natural movements, expressions and interactions between people in a space. I shoot much more often with my Speedlight SB-600 (external mount flash) because people are typically found in rooms where natural light is not optimal. And more often than not, there is a super wide lens on my camera body so I can place the viewer in the scene with my subject.

Do you find that your focus and approach to photography is shifting? Do share.

A Place to Live

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I want you to know Theresia Ngowi (right), her daughter, and Juliet Ngassa (left), program manager for Arusha-based, non-profit BEST (Business and Entrepreneurship Support Tanzania). Theresia welcomed Jen and I into her home in Magadini Village. She is a young entrepreneur and earns income by selling rice. Despite the fact that the walls of her home are partially constructed with cardboard, I felt such warmth inside.

Tell us about a painting, a photograph, or a word that brings meaning to your walls.

There’s More

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On the surface, it appears as though this is more than enough. Plenty. But it was the only source of food I could see for the three families we visited on the quiet edge of the village that day with Arusha-based non-profit BEST (Business and Entrepreneurship Support Tanzania). There was no kitchen. No pantry. No grocery store. Just this basket of tomatoes and an anxious dose of hope that rain would fall on this modest patch of ground to produce the maize.

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Shutter Sisters is proud to support our non-profit partner Epic Change and their TweetsGiving project this year – a global celebration of gratitude on November 24-26. Our friends Stacey Monk and Sanjay Patel graciously extended their support to connect us with Mama Lucy Kamptoni and Shepherds Junior School in Arusha, Tanzania. Jen and I are so grateful for the work they are doing and were thrilled to contribute our images and time to produce a video in support of TweetsGiving. I hope you will get involved and share your gratitude.

It’s Not About the Camera

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Shot with my Apple iPhone.

I love most everything about the conversation of photography with the exception of this question, “What do you shoot with?” I say that because for me, photography is not about the camera. It’s like asking an artist what paintbrush she used or what brand of paint sits on the canvas. Compelling images are created by people, not cameras. In fact, I’m shooting with my iPhone more and more these days. Clearly, there are limitations when shooting with a camera phone… I have no control over light and depth of field. I have very little control over focus. But I have total control of composition. Imposing these limitations on my vision is actually quite fun.

So let’s see what your camera phone or inexpensive camera can do.

Picturing Hope in Tanzania

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Jen, her eight-year-old son and eleven-year-old daughter, and I leave for Tanzania at the end of this week for our next self-guided Picture Hope assignment. We’ll be focused on sharing the story of Mama Lucy Kamptoni and Shepherds Junior, a small primary school in Arusha she started with chicken and egg money and expanded with support from our Fair Content partner, Epic Change. I’m curious to see how this journey will differ from our experience in Rwanda, and so eager to sink back into Africa.

I wonder about that girl in the doorway. Jen Lemen. I’m eager to see what unfolds for her as she makes room for so much more.

When Pictures Move

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Picture Hope: Curious Eyes & Hopeful Hearts from LittlePurpleCow Productions on Vimeo.

Earlier this year, I traded my Nikon D80 for a D90 primarily because I was drawn to the notion of experimenting with video. As a photographer first, my initial instinct and preference is always to create still images, but there are certain moments in time when a single photograph is challenged to clearly document an experience. Standing in an open field in Kizarakome, Rwanda when these children appeared was one of those moments. When pictures move, you can study the sweetness of evolving expressions, watch curiosity unfold, and witness the ease of joy and trust in motion.

How do you feel about moving pictures? Are you experimenting? Curious to try?

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Video capture using a Nikon D90 with a Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens. Video editing in iMovie ’09.

On the Table

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One of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta is a hip vegetarian eatery known as Dynamic Dish. My friend James introduced me to the owner and chef, David Sweeney, and this lead to a collection of lunches that nourished me with a hearty dose of fine food and visual delight. Looking through this set of images from my dining experience at the Dish makes me think that I should take the time to discover and document a handful of super cool hidden spaces where tables are full of delightful objects and thoughtful conversations. It seems most days at noon, I am too often tethered to my desk with an English Muffin on a plastic plate.

Show us what’s on your table today or share the details of an interesting restaurant or kitchen space.