Connecting with viewers

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still - Dorothea Lange

I am a subscriber of “Lenswork” – a fine art photography magazine from the U.S. With its printed and online editions, they feature diverse bodies of work from amateur and professional photographers around the world. A few years ago, editor Brooks Jensen started an annual community book project with different themes for each year. This year’s theme is “the magnificent planet” which features different categories. I submitted three of my images for consideration and it was my first attempt for such annual book project.

Prior to my submitting the images, I listened to Brooks’ podcast about this year’s community book project. In previous years, the annual community book featured small bodies of work, six images to be exact from each photographer. Since last year, Brooks changed the format to featuring an individual image from each photographer. The images submitted need not be related. During his podcast, Brooks explained his intention for such change in format. One of the points he raised resonated with me and prompted me to submit my images. Brooks explained what qualities he was looking for in images that would be more likely to be selected. He hoped to see images that will keep the viewers engaged. Images that make one stop, observe and to ask questions. He hopes his final selection will encourage readers to take time to absorb what each image in the book has to offer, instead of skimming through it quickly.

We are inundated by images nowadays. There is a massive amount of imagery being generated by the public daily. They are coming at you from all sources. With the advancement in digital photography, a technically competent and aesthetically pleasing image is no longer considered a feat. It can be easily be overlooked with the streams of images we consume. More than ever, it is a great challenge to make images that keep viewers engaged beyond the first few seconds of perception.

I was taught not to make snapshots or postcard images when I started taking photography lessons years ago. I was told to aspire higher and go beyond the obvious. It has taken me years to grasp the real meaning of such instruction. Even now, I am not always convinced my images have succeeded in achieving anything beyond the basic level of technical competence. I set a goal of making images that I hope will engage my audience with emotions that are universally felt by humans. Be it joy, grief, awe, serenity. My aspiration is to engage my viewers on a personal level. I hope my images elicit this feeling that they are right there with me witnessing a moment in time. They want to be in that moment, and they are part of it. I also hope my photographs possess such traits that transcend time, culture and language in a way that is beyond the aesthetics and technical appeal of the medium of photography.

Knowing only one of the three images I submitted may get selected, I picked the three images with which I considered they embody the characteristics that transcend the boundaries of the context they were made in, and can best represent my intentions.

#Creativity