Category: <span>Social Landscape</span>

Published March 31, 2017 by

April Fool’s Day and prank photos

April Fools, prank, prank photo, illusion,
Halifax, NS, 2011                 © Avard Woolaver 

For decades, prank photos have been popular on April Fool’s Day. They typically appear in a newspaper or online with an alarming or puzzling caption like “Wisconsin State Capital Collapses” or “Bicycle Flies Over Amsterdam.”

Before Photoshop, the process of faking a photo was more complex, and could involve multiple exposures, airbrushing, hand retouching, and other composite photo techniques. This usually required a lot of work in the darkroom. Most early April Fool’s prank photos seem crude by today’s standards, but sometimes they were pretty slick–as in the 1926 German photo of a “Triple Decker City Bus.”

Some pranks are evergreen and may even become expected. U.S. political writer Andrew Sullivan, who now writes for New York magazine but for years had his own blog (the Dish), celebrated April Fool’s Day every year by RickRolling his readers. Yes: every single year. Andrew has a New York column scheduled to appear this Friday; check it out to see whether he’ll do it once again.

Where photos are concerned, digital technology immediately made it so much easier and faster to manipulate and retouch for effect. One of the best known of recent years is a photo spoof that appeared in the April edition of Popular Photography in 2005. Dorothea Lange’s famous picture of a migrant mother was given a digital makeover so that she would fit in better with magazine advertising. True, it was a clever commentary on the superficiality of retouching; but it hit a nerve and produced hundreds of comments, both positive and negative. (Many people found it more demeaning to the subject than funny.)

Do keep in mind that a prank is just that. Once a year we are allowed to take some liberties. If you’re the person doing the fooling, be sure you’re not stepping on anyone else’s dignity in a misguided attempt to be humourous.

And if you’re the one who gets fooled, remember to enjoy it. Of course you’re the smartest person in the room! Obviously! So if someone is able to put something over on you on April 1, appreciate their cleverness and laugh it off. You can always start planning right away for next year.

Colour Observation Photography Social Landscape

April Fools Day Avard Woolaver cookie humour Nalifax Nova Scotia photography prank smiley face social landscape

Published March 30, 2017 by

McDog – photo by Avard Woolaver

dog, Humor, McDog,
McDog, Windsor, NS; 2013                           © Avard Woolaver

from the series: Wish You Were Here

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Blogging Colour Documentary Observation Photography Social Landscape

Avard Woolaver Canon Rebel T3 colour documentary dog humour McDog photography social landscape

Published March 27, 2017 by

Hands chart our passage through time

hands, hand portrait, Nova Scotia, 2017,
Hands, Newport, NS; 2017          © Avard Woolaver 

We can learn a lot about people by looking at their hands. Close-up photos of them are often taken when the subjects are newborns or elderly people, but probably relatively few are taken during other phases of life. Hands can say a lot about our interaction with each other and with the world. UK photographer Tim Booth believes the hands tell a more honest story about what a person has been through than faces.

American portrait artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) paid particular attention to hands in order to reveal his sitters’ temperament.  Stephanie Herdrich, in an article on the Metropolitan Museum website, writes, “Sargent’s accentuation of hand gestures reveals details about his sitters’ personalities or moods and, in some cases, the sitters’ relationship with the artist.”

Another thing you might take note of when photographing is how your own hands are changing over time. For me, it’s one way I see my own age. In the past few years I’ve developed vitiligo (loss of skin pigmentation, resulting in white patches) on my hands; they look quite different from the way they did a few years ago. It doesn’t bother me and I don’t try to cover it up—it’s mostly a cosmetic thing, not a real health concern—but it is a part of me that has changed, and changed quickly. Since I respond to so much of my daily life from my perspective as a photographer, one way I can notice physical changes over time is through photographs.

You’ve no doubt had the familiar sinking feeling that comes from looking through photos from a few years earlier and thinking, Wow, I’m getting old. I looked so much younger then. (When it hasn’t even been that long, sometimes.) This is something my wife and I talk about often. Age is always at our heels; youth is always receding in the mirror.

Nothing keeps reminding us of that like ordinary snapshots. In that sense, the snapshots that document our most everyday moments become the ones that most accurately chart our passage through time.

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Photo tip: It’s a worthwhile endeavor to document the hands of family members over time to see the effects of time and age.

“Hands” appears on Photo Vogue–Vogue Italia website.

Colour Family Photography Portrait Social Landscape

2017 Avard Woolaver documentary hands Nova Scotia photography

Published March 20, 2017 by

Photos remind me of songs

music, songs, treble clef, sound, vision,
Treble Clef, Halifax, NS; 2012               © Avard Woolaver       

With the digital revolution, there are more and more photos being taken. It can seem that any particular photo has already been taken numerous times. An interesting piece by Teju Cole in the New York Times relates that photos we see can remind us of other photos. In my case, they often remind me of songs.

A photo of Route 14 in Hants County, Nova Scotia, inevitably brings to mind John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”  Railroad tracks remind me of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” Strip malls remind me of Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime,” and springtime calls forth “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles.

Here’s a finding that interests me: “Brain process involved in sight have found the visual cortex also uses information gleaned from the ears as well as the eyes when viewing the world.” This is according to a team of neuroscientists at the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Glasgow. Professor Lars Muckli, who led the research, explained in an article for their university magazine, “Sounds create visual imagery, mental images, and automatic projections.”

Sometimes it’s the imagery in the song; sometimes it’s linked to a memory associated with the song.

“Don’t you wonder sometimes ’bout sound and vision,” David Bowie asked us in the song “Sound and Vision.” Yes, we do.

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Photo tip:  Think of a few of your favourite songs and try to take photos that match them.

Black and White Blogging Documentary Observation Photography Social Landscape

2012 Avard Woolaver black and white found objects Nova Scotia observation sound treble clef vision

Published March 17, 2017 by

Preparation is important for travel photography

travel, travel photography, Nepal, Annapurna,
Lumle, Nepal; 1989                                                              © Avard Woolaver

Don’t you feel inspired whenever you travel? Seeing the world with “fresh eyes” provides wonderful photo opportunities, and you may get some of your best photos when visiting a new place. A little research and preparation in advance can make for a more trouble-free experience when photographing.

Photographer Jim Richardson relates, “Philosophically, photographers seem to divide along that fault line. On one side are those who desire only to be in the moment. For them, forethought only distorts perception. On the other side are the planners. Most National Geographic photographers I know do both: research extensively to prepare their schedule (and their minds) and then become existentially in-the-moment once on site.”

Some of the preparations may involve looking through websites, photo or guide books, or Google Maps to get a sense of what the place looks like and to learn good shooting locations. You can also research seasonal events in the destination, so you don’t miss an important festival or event. Also, with social media, you can meet up with other photographers who are native to the area. It’s a great way to learn the ins and outs of a place, and connect with like-minded people.

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Photo tip: Connect with other photographers on Flickr or Facebook to join a photo walk. It’s a great way to socialize and learn new things.

Colour Documentary Film Photography Photography Social Landscape Travel

1989 Annapurna Avard Woolaver colour documentary film photography Nepal travel travel photography trekking