Wednesday Creatives: Photography as Perspective, Pt I.

Thanks to my friend Shawndell for sharing a photo that inspired this week's Creatives feature!

In my last post, I shared about how I got my first laptop six years ago... well, shortly after getting it, I had time to waste spend online. This led to discovering and becoming obsessed with the photography of Rosie Hardy.  I first fell in love with her "Behind the Scenes - Fairytales" collection - which is just a fantastic reimagining of beloved fairytales to portray contemporary issues such as physical abuse, drugs, and eating disorders.  There is a long and fascinating story to the young, British photographer's rise which you may find interesting - but that's not what I'm planning to talk about. 

I only bring up Rosie's photography as my intro into the art of photo-shop.  Not the first I'd heard of it.  Not the air-brushing to perfection it's used for in magazines.  But the layered use of beautiful photos.  The shift in perspective - both visually and metaphorically.  And I was amazed at her use of self-portrait.

Well, Rosie Hardy was not the first of the now celebrity photographers on Flickr, but she was my first exposure to how beautiful and meaningful it could be.  This week my passion for this form of creativity was renewed when Shawndell shared the work of a new young photographer working in the same medium of "photo-shopped self-portraiture."

His name is Zev.  He's 14.  (He's a ginger!)  And he is an amazing artist!!!

He goes by Fiddle Oak on Flickr and here is just a glimpse of what he creates:



[Autumn]




[bless my sponge bath]

 Amazingly, no books were (irreparably) harmed during the making of this photo.  Despite the appearance that pages have been (gasp!) torn - never fear!  Zev is a master at origami.  In his own words:  "I felt terrible bending up an old book, but hopefully being squashed on the shelf for a couple of years will flatten it out again."  Ah, let's hope!




[Draft]

  Love the image here of simultaneously creating and discovering one's self. 




[fog wafting up stream]

  Gorgeous composition!




[Fly]



[all the king's elements]

As you can see, his self portraits are fantastic!  He's also worked with some other subjects, especially with his older sister.  Love these: 

[Stowaway]



[remi]



Stunning, no?  And (holyfreakingcow) he's only 14!


Check out his Flickr photostream, or his sets:  self-portraits, littlefolk, elements, things on strings, and film noir.  Let me know your favorites - either ones here or that you find on his Flickr. 
And here's a sneak peek at Part II, coming next week:

Of Tangled and Typology :)

This weekend I had one of those great "Wow!  Not everyone thinks everyone thinks the same way I do (thank God!)" moments. 

I was at my sister's watching Tangled with my neice and nephew. We were watching the scene at the end [er...Spoilers?] and I exclaimed how much I love this film.  My sister asked why.  I rambled off a few things quickly:

- Mother Gothel's mirror breaks - a symbol of the shattering of the power of vanity [very much a Mirror Mirror relationship going on here... interesting since Snow White was Disney's 1st feature film and Tangled was it's 50th :]

- Flynn chooses to save Rapunzel rather than himself - amazing!

- The shards from that mirror would prove the very weapon Flynn would need to free Rapunzel and defeat Mother Gothel.

- There's a brief, but powerful shot of the rapidly aging Mother Gothel looking in the broken mirror - representing her fractured psyche [unfotunately, I couldn't find a picture of that shot]

- Pascal uses Rapunzel's hair (of all things) to trip Mother Gothel and she falls out the window to her death.

- Then of course we get the touching death of Flynn Rider - and even though you know Disney is going to bring him back to life, giving Rapunzel a haircut and killing off the "prince charming" in the same scene automatically qualifies it for "Most Unpredictable Disney Clip" - if not entire movie!

- And in one final, gorgeous shot before the resurrection a la Beauty and the Beast... we get this: the shattered mirror and shattered dreams - the (seeming) finality of death - bathed in rays of light.  And the Sun has not lost it's healing power after all.

So anyway... I rambled off most of those thoughts about the power of imagery very quickly, until my sister said, "Stop it, you're hurting my brain!"  After laughter and a "Wait - really?" - I had that wonderful shock to the system that, yes, I am odd.  And maybe people who are not constantly reading into things have a less stressful life.  Maybe they actually get more out of it!!

But its actually come at a wonderful time.  I've been learning so much about people lately - about our differences. We took the Meyers Briggs / Jungian Typology test at work [seriously, take it if you haven't and then visit the personality pages to get a scarily accurate description of your Type].  There are 16 different types of personalities according that test.  I'm also reading the 5 love languages.  I've had some really eye-opening experiences with family members and friends and co-workers. 

And I'm becoming aware again of the variety that exists in the human race - and that ALL of it is a reflection of who God is.

Some of you may just get this easier than I do.  But I've seriously been amazed listening to people who think in an entirely different way - not just from a different point of view, but an entirely other grid. Yet that grid is as much in the image of God as any other - even when they seem contrary.  And when I say "grid," I'm not talking about worldview as much as I'm talking about the personality and perspective each of us was born with.  Obviously each personality has its strengths and weaknesses... but there is something God just LOVES about each of them.  He's put a piece of himself in introverts and extroverts, in people who see black & white and those who see color, in the nerds and the free spirits.  They all reflect who He is!  And that's incredible!!

So even when you get bugged or someone doesn't understand you - take a moment to enjoy the variety in other people and to discover an aspect of God's character that you might not have seen or appreciated before!