Carrying on from the developments listed in week 9, I continued to look at other photography methods over the summer of 2018.

Half in – Half out photography is now rapidly becoming one of my favourite genres. Introduced to me during the Positions and Practice module, I have looked to get more accurate at this practice and try to achieve more usable visual results.

This has been a challenge in terms of the difficulty faced with getting the right balance to the images. I have found many inspirations for this work, most notably

Japanese photographer Asako Narahashi –  who’s work Kawaguchiko #3, 2003 from the series “half awake and half asleep in the water” > 2001 has inspired me to try similar images in Snowdonia this summer:

 

 

 

 

Asako Narahashi – Kawaguchiko #3, 2003

 

Ogwen lake reflections – 2018

For me the inspiration sits with the amount of energy in Asako Narahashi work and the way she captures the scene, with a real sense of dynamism.

The sequences from Ogwen showed me that it could be possible to achieve results using this method. The ambition is to capture images where the movement of the water, or shapes below the waterline mimic the scene above.

I did find that having totally flat water wasn’t to my taste and that having some motion within the waterline produced images that I found more appealing. I have been encouraged by these results and I am now looking to push this work further.

One of the key sources of inspiration for my practice currently is from Matty Smith. His use of lighting coupled with a balance of composition and understanding of the subject matter leads to some highly effective images.

Matty Smith – High Five – date unknown. 

For me Matty’s work sets the benchmark I would like to reach.

I do however feel that care is needed so that the images I capture retain the context of realism and a have a natural look and that I don’t fall into the mistake of sacrificing this, over creating a more straight forward and easy process. It is realised that this form of photography does take time to master.

I shall explore this concept more as I develop my practice. I am also now exploring the idea of a photobook for my Snowdonia images.