We are coming to the end of our month spent thinking about photography, exploring the qualities of stillness and movement through the lenses of still photographs and film. Here are some final reflections, and a video interview with Julia Forsman offering ideas for those wishing to go deeper with photography.
Frame rate and allowing gaps for the imagination
Film appears continuous, but this is a magic trick, since it is actually constructed of a series of rapidly changing still images.
The frame rate refers to how many images we have per second. If there are a lot, the quality of the image is smooth and the change is imperceptible.
However, sometimes we intentionally use a lower frame rate, with fewer images per second, to give the work a jerky, unpredictable quality. (My daughter is currently obsessed with Rosé and Bruno Mars’s A.P.T. - and to be honest, I am as well! - and I think this music video is more visually interesting because of those gaps.)
Ultimately, the choice of frame rate has to do with the quality of the movement we want to create - is it smooth and fluid, or abrupt and startling?
Those bits where it feels like we are skipping as we move from image to image remind me a bit of blinking.
I feel like those gaps almost become a sacred space, as the place where the audience has to use their own imaginations to make the work whole.
The film Moonlight embeds the idea of these gaps into its very structure. We see the main character at three pivotal moments on his journey from boyhood to adulthood. Each time we encounter him, he is radically different, and we have to infer the life journey that has happened in the meantime.
It is never possible to connect all the dots for an audience. The task is simply to be intentional about the places where we are asking them to make the imaginative leap rather than providing continuity.
Film as an engine of intimacy
Film is incredible at giving a sense of epic action - this is the stuff that superhero films are made of! Panning the camera to take in a vast landscape or immense battle can be awe inspiring.
But what I often find even more incredible about film recordings is the other extreme of intimacy - the way that it lets us get closer than we can in theatre, or in daily life. We are just a breath away from the performers, their faces blown up larger than reality, taking in every nuance of their experience.
Here’s an experiment to try out as you’re encountering filmed material: what makes you feel closer to a character: looking through their eyes (where the camera takes on their perspective), or looking into their eyes (where the camera is trained on the subject)?
Often, I find that looking closely at the character helps me understand them much more deeply than trying to take on their perspective. Which is continually surprising to me - surely the closest we can get is seeing through their eyes, no?
However, for many of us, the power of mirroring another and witnessing emotion adds a greater sense of closeness.
Film is an essential part of our artistic practice and lives because it can be a powerful way of sharing our experience, even if we don’t consider ourselves filmmakers.
Case in point: this week I watched a fifteen minute YouTube video of a young piano tuner reviving a damaged instrument in the Chicago airport.
It was interesting seeing how the piano worked, but the reason I kept watching was to take in the tuner’s experience: the little side conversation with the woman who stopped to talk, the worry about whether he would catch his flight, the focus as he cleaned the keys and determination in his voice.
Film is a tool for letting people get closer to us and to our work.
Our ability to generate intimacy is directly linked to our willingness to be fully seen.
Sometimes we let ourselves be seen through images or metaphor - this does not always have to be a literal interpretation of standing in front of a camera.
Our best tool for connection as artists and as people is as simple and as difficult as not hiding, and welcoming the gaze of others rather than shying away from it.
What we can learn from blind photographers
This week, I have been returning to some articles I had clipped about the incredible work of visually impaired photographers.
This profile of Ian Treherne explores how he works with a narrow field of vision (5% of his vision remains) to create powerful images.
An article from the Guardian excerpts selections from the book The Blind Photographer, showing a diversity of powerful images.
In art and in our lives, it’s easy to fixate on our limitations and the things that stop us from creating. But these images are such an amazing reminder that with a combination of determination and support, we can often find our way around the barriers that might seem insurmountable at first glance.
I know so many artists (including myself, from time to time) who expend huge amounts of energy cataloguing their limitations. These become a sort of proof of our own inadequacies - the reasons why we will never achieve ‘success’, or make the work of our dreams, or win glory and respect, and so on.
It is hard to imagine a more challenging obstacle to creating photography than blindness. And yet, as we can see, it is possible to create gorgeous images with this access barrier.
I would argue that in these instances, the blindness enriches the work, because it enables these artists to look at the world in a different way, which in turn, enables all of us to see things from a new perspective.
When we are creating with our full selves, challenges and assets can become interchangeable.
The things you think are your limitations are the very same things that will make your work unique.
In this video…
This video does something a bit different! Since I am not a photographer, I wanted to offer some deeper reflections from someone who makes their primary work in this discipline.
So I sat down to talk with my friend Julia Forsman about her work as a photographer, and tips for those who want to go deeper.
This video was actually recorded in 2024, but I didn’t release it since I had to discontinue last year’s programme, so I am sending it out now instead!
This video touches on:
The way photography allows us to connect to people when we don’t speak the same language
The fascination of watching light
The ways we can bring our families into their work, creating a legacy they are part of
The advice that Julia would give to her younger self (TLDR: be confident!)
How a broken camera helped Julia learn more about her craft
The way the joy of taking photos of people and the fear of asking their permission to do so sit side by side
The power of creating from good intentions (inspiration from Chris Killip)
If you want to see more of Julia’s work, you can follow her on Instagram at @arockandasoftplace.
What’s coming next…
In just a few days, we will be moving on to our next category - music!
Thanks so much for joining me on this creative adventure. I look forward to seeing what awaits us!
Access Support: If you have access needs that I’m not currently meeting, please do drop me a line! (The best email is contact@ac-smith.com.) I’d really like to make this project available to anyone who wants to participate.
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