Bronwen Hazlett
Final Project Statement
Color and Light
Kris Lattimore
December 10th, 2014
This project began with my interest in using Diana lenses. I love how the lenses blurred specific areas of the frame and changed the quality of the light. I realized, while I was getting great photographs with them that I was also limiting the way I could compose a photograph. The areas of soft focus in the lenses stay in the same place and they, in effect, limit the control I have over composition. I needed a reason, like this to finally break out my Calumet 4x5 camera. I converted my Calumet to digital by attaching a Photodiox adapter to the back where film is usually inserted. My Canon EOS 6d then attaches to the adapter so I can take digital photographs through my Calumet. I knew if I could get the right lens to work with a full frame digital camera on the back, then I could have more control and flexibility with my compositions. I can now tilt and shift to selectively focus as well as compose the way I want.
For this project I am photographing in the genre of Fine Art. I have photographed my series with a representational artistic involvement which is in keeping with my new outlook of letting things naturally happen without an outside source of influence. I recently left a long and unhappy marriage with a verbally abusive husband. I am finding peace and harmony in the rural landscapes of Delaware. The subjects I am photographing for this series are farms, fields, old houses, barns, and tidal marsh land. These compositions are horizontally leveled landscapes. The framing of these photographs is in between being passive and actively framed. There are no crazy angles or perspectives. I am keeping a flow through the images with some directional movement. If all of these photographs were only leveled, they would start to look boring and monotonous. The horizon lines of the landscapes rest in the lower, middle section of the frame and are visually equal in proportions of sky to ground. This perpetuates the even keel in my attitude I am striving toward in my daily life. It is all about keeping things in balance and in proportion to one another.
In speaking about the color I am working with, I have used reality as color. The colors are mostly a cool warm contrast with a gentile plastic interval. The tones gradually and quietly shift into one another. The light is bright but soft and rich in hue without harsh direction or contrast. There is no overwhelming happiness or sadness to my color symbolism. The direction of the light is coming from either the top, front, or back.
I photographed during sunrise and sunset, the middle of the day, and when it was cloudy. The light is more flat and has a brighter hue at these times. When I photograph at the end or beginning of the day the light was dim but saturated with vibrant hues. The hues I photographed are cool blues to bright greens and warm oranges to pinks and purples. These colors are grounding and calm which I relate to my contented attitude. While photographing this series, the Delaware landscape transitioned from Fall to winter. The colors changed from the cool dark greens of Summer to warm browns, muted reds, oranges, and yellows. The warm colors in the Fall foliage are found in the sunsets and sunrises too. To me these colors represent comfort and happiness.
Photographing with a Calumet 4x5 camera, I have to compose my photograph through the live view in my canon 6d screen. I take 5 different images of the complete scene with my Canon 6d to come close to the size of a normal 4x5 size image. The tilt and shift features of my 4x5 additionally blur and soften the light as well. Using my 4x5 for this project was a lesson in learning how to slow down and is also an appropriate lesson for my life. I rediscovered the feeling of having more control over where I want my soft focus. My artistic intent is to project a sense of peace that I now have after getting away from my previous circumstances. These photographs are my visual reset and meditation on peace and quiet. There are roads and paths in some of these photographs but I do not want them to be a predominant symbol because we are meant to go off the road or beaten path at times.
When I think back to my early influences in art and photography, three names come to mind, Ansel Adams, Maxfield Parrish and Eliot Porter. Even though the majority of Adam’s work is in black and white, anyone can appreciate his sharpness, mastery of depth of field, and broad tonal range of black to white. Eliot Porter has been a favorite of mine since I was 14. He is a master at finding a saturated hue where there should be little color at all. My favorite painter who’s work in color I adore is Maxfield Parish. I love the colors and saturation in paintings. They have a luminescence and purity that radiates from the canvas.
My understanding of color has expanded. I do know how to use color temperature for the success in my photography but I forgot that it is a way to be creative as well. I need to purposefully think about the color temperature I would like to create. I should not be lazy and just use auto feature for color temperature. It makes a difference to select the right temperature or to set a different temperature. I’m used to using color as reality or color as design for personal or commercial work purposes. I feel I have discovered a deeper sense of the poetics of color. I wish I had more time to work on these images.
