For the first time since I was in college, I turned in a photo project in black and white.Why? Good question.
I shot this story about a family who's dad/husband was deployed to Iraq. I thought I would follow them around and photograph their lives for a while. The mom works a fulltime job, is going back to college and has three school-aged children. It seemed rich with possibilities.
Some where along the way, I apparently lost my focus. I felt like I was hitting all the important events, but when I looked back at what I shot each day, I always felt like I was missing something. There was more there than what my images were showing.
In the end, it all looked like a collection of average images. Very surface level. I felt like I had missed what I was going for. So how do you make an average image more moving and artistic? Make it black and white.
For the record, I had contemplated making it a black and white project after my first day with the family. At the same time I hate when photographers present black and white projects when they could have just as easily done them in color.I think some of the images may have been helped: No distracting colors to draw you away from the subjects in the image. Overall I'm not sure if it made the project any better.
When is a good time to shoot a black and white project? I'm not sure I see the value in it. I'm calling this an experiment. I tried it, and I'm not sure I'm impressed.
In case anyone is interested, I made a soundslides of the project. Its just audio from an interview with the mom over a lot of photos. Probably too many, but I had a hard time cutting down the audio. Let me know what you think. I would love to get some feedback. Any suggestions on what I could have done to make it better?
1 comment:
Michael,
I don't think you could cut much out of the audio, There is a lot to deal with as a family left behind. My parents were both in the Navy, and my dad was regularly out to sea for four to six months at a time. It was not during war time so the stress level is different, but the wives are basiclly on their own for long stretches (My mother had four boys to contend with). I think you needed that length to tell all of the story.
As far as the black and white. I think it would have worked out better with a bit more time toning. The photos are solid as far as content (especially the ones with the son). The only problem I could see was flat toning.
Ken
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