Photography; A nocturnal study
Hereafter thou shalt find the studies into photography I conducted, late into the wintry Parisian nights.
Using Martina’s Sony Alpha 7s, first with her 24-70mm lens, then during the Christmas holidays with the 50mm lens, many fun photos were taken.
What was the purpose, what effect did this have on my creativity, how might photography help with my practice as a female surrealist in the future, and what was learnt?
Reflect: I have always loved taking photos. Back in the day, I had a variety of handheld cameras long before the existence of smartphones. When the first Nokias, Motorolas and Blackberries were coming out, I was using digital cameras - both manual and automatic - and took a great deal of pleasure in capturing the moment, be it a holiday, or a portrait, or something funny or artistic. As there was no pressure, and Myspace / Facebook were used for fun, rather than business, or judgement, it was so much easier to just take photos naturally. Today? Almost two decades later, with my iPhone 15 reminding me of the 14 other iterations that Apple had already brought out before this one, I remember my love for photography, and I wish to create the space for experimentation and fun.
Plan: Borrow the camera - this bit is done. Next - experiment at home first, get used to the functionalities, start local when going out, before going into town (as it is not mine!). With the first lens, take a large variety of shots to practice focusing manually and automatically, before going onto the next lens in December. Perhaps also look into how to borrow lenses with CSM in London, as I already have the Sony Alpha 7s camera body. I want to explore surrealism, so this will be the plan. Figurative and portraiture, but also abstract, surrealist, experimental photography.
Act: Did so! Late at night. Fantastic. Slept very late.
Observe: I clearly love taking photos, and almost anything can be a subject, especially when ultra zoomed in. Continue experimenting.
The first ever photo I took with the Sony Alpha 7s + 24-70mm lens. Didn’t realise how heavy the body would be, so stability was an issue, but the blur is nice!
A little selection of my first shots taken, testing focus, lighting, late at night so with a pretty high ISO factor, testing again with a lot of lighting in the white walled bathroom, very interesting contrasts.
More to come!
