Tag: <span>social landscape</span>

Published March 13, 2017 by

Fishing in Japan

Japan, fishing, Kiso River, Inuyama, 1992
Kiso River, Inuyama, Japan; 1992                  © Avard Woolaver

The Japanese are crazy about fish. Not only do they enjoy eating fish, they also enjoy catching them. At urban fishing centres you can pay 600 yen (about $7) to go fishing in a concrete pool. (The fish have to be put back to be caught again by another customer.)

There is something zen about fishing. In a Huffington Post article Abigail Wise lists the ways in which fishing makes you a better person. It reduces stress and helps keep you fit, not to mention the health benefits of eating fish.

In my years spent in Japan in the 1980s, I saw people fishing in rivers, canals, and lakes. There was something calming about just watching them fish. And, of course, it made for interesting photos.

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Photo tip: The world looks different from above. Try looking for high vantage points to get dynamic high-angle shots.  Russian photographer Alexander Rodchenko was a master of using both high-angle and low-angle photography.

Colour Documentary Film Photography Photography Social Landscape

1992 analog Avard Woolaver film photography fishing Fujicolor film Inuyama Japan Kiso River social landscape travel

Published March 6, 2017 by

Press the shutter, evaluate later

marching band, Toronto, shutter, 1983,
Marching Band, Toronto; 1983                                   © Avard Woolaver

National Geographic photographer Sam Abell once said, “My best work is often almost unconscious and occurs ahead of my ability to understand it.” It’s common to feel this way when editing and evaluating photos. Sometimes I don’t edit a group of photos until months or years after I’ve taken them, and I may catch nuances or connections then that escaped me when I took them.

That is why it is important not to worry so much about getting the perfect picture—just concentrate on capturing moments and experiences. You’ll have plenty of time later to reflect on it.

And, paradoxically, so much of photography is what happens after the moment. A photo takes one one-hundredth of a second, but we have lots of time afterwards to study and make sense of the image. Some photographers used to keep unprocessed film for months or years so that they could view it later with fresh eyes and a new perspective.

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Photo tip:  Go over past work from time to time. There may be some worthwhile images that you passed over at the time. Time and experience can give new perspectives.

“Marching Band, Toronto; 1983” was discovered recently on a contact sheet some thirty four years after it was taken. It is from the series: Toronto Days

Colour Documentary Film Photography Photography Social Landscape

1983 analog Avard Woolaver film marching band social landscape Toronto Toronto Days

Published February 27, 2017 by

Everyday Objects and the Democratic Forest

brooms, mops, Toronto, street scene, St. Clair West, everyday objects,
St. Clair West, Toronto, 1983     © Avard Woolaver

Photographer Willliam Eggleston is known for legitimizing colour photography as art. His photos are a visual treat without clichés—no sunsets, no lighthouses. Instead, he has ordinary scenes and everyday objects—things that we mostly pass by without notice.

As Eudora Welty says in her introduction to Eggleston’s book The Democratic Forest (1989), one of his photographs might include “old tyres, Dr. Pepper machines, discarded air-conditioners, vending machines, empty and dirty Coca-Cola bottles, torn posters, power poles and power wires, street barricades, one-way signs, detour signs, No Parking signs, parking meters and palm trees crowding the same curb.”

Eggleston looks at the world in a democratic way; all things, even the most banal, are worth photographing. It’s a form of mindfulness—being aware and concentrating on the moment.

“I just wait until [my subject] appears, which is often where I happen to be. Might be something right across the street. Might be something on down the road. And I’m usually very pleased when I get the image back. It’s usually exactly what I saw. I don’t have any favorites. Every picture is equal but different.” – William Eggleston

When I’m in that zone, I take time to observe everything around me. I find it relaxing and meditative. And it can lead to photos of brushes and brooms!

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Photo tip: Try taking photos just where you happen to be. In the coffee shop, in your backyard, in the parking lot. You don’t need to go to Mt. Everest to get good photos.

Colour Documentary Film Photography New Topographics Photography Social Landscape

1983 analog Avard Woolaver film photography new topographics social landscape St. Clair West Toronto Toronto Days

Published February 24, 2017 by

Wabi-sabi and worn out street signs

wrong way, sign, wabi-sabi, Kentville, Nova Scotia,
Kentville, Nova Scotia;  2006    © Avard Woolaver

Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept that roughly translates to “imperfect beauty.” It’s an aesthetic that comes from Buddhist teaching; it describes a beauty that’s imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

Though there is something appealing about fresh new things wrapped in plastic, we often prefer old, worn-out things. I think of my old LPs with their crackle and pops; my t-shirts from Japan in the 1980’s; a faded hockey team photo from 1972; a baseball glove from 1987. You have your own long list, I’m sure.

Lots of times you may find yourself seeking this wabi-sabi aspect in your photographs. It’s something I do often in my photography–preferring to shoot a run-down street sign over a shiny new one. The lyric I’ve seen most often invoked in discussing wabi-sabi is from “Anthem” by Leonard Cohen: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

There could be many interpretations of the faded “wrong way” sign in the photo above: this is the wrong way to maintain a street sign, or it’s just a sign of the times. It might as well say, “Nothing lasts forever.”

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Photo tip: Juxtaposition can lead to visual interest. Try including an object in the foreground that seems incongruous with the rest of the scene.

Colour Documentary New Topographics Photography Social Landscape

Avard Woolaver decay Kentville new topographics Nova Scotia sign social landscape wabi sabi

Published February 17, 2017 by

Those unforgettable Hipgnosis album covers

surreal, lights, window, Hipgnosis
Wish You Were Here, Cornwallis, NS;  2013   © Avard Woolaver

Do you remember those unforgettable Hipgnosis album covers? If you are around my age, you probably spent a lot of time in your teenage years listening to LPs and studying the album covers. You would play side one, then flip over to side two, all the while contemplating the meaning of the prism on the cover. The album art was often straightforward–an attractive portrait of the singer or band. But sometimes it was surreal and enigmatic–very artsy.

When I got a camera some years later I remembered those cool Hipgnosis creations (by Storm Thorgerson) and looked for photos with similar moods and juxtapositions. A discarded door on a sidewalk, an odd reflection in a mirror, a blank sign–this lead me to produce a series titled: Wish You Were Here. Thorgerson was good at isolating odd elements in the image, much like the painter René Magritte. It was clear what you were supposed to notice, but an intended meaning was not so clear. This ambiguity can draw you in and keep you looking for a long time.

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Photo tip: Use intentional point of view (POV)–stand in a place so as to get rid of clutter in the background.

Colour Light Observation Photography Social Landscape

Avard Woolaver Hipgnosis social landscape surrealism Wish You Were Here