Start by doing your own research into some of the artists discussed above. Then, using slow shutter speeds, the multiple exposure function, or another technique inspired bythe examples above, try to record the trace of movement within the frame. You can be as experimental as you like. Add a selection of shots together with relevant shooting data and a description of process (how you captured the shots) to your learning log.
Research
Robert Capa | D-Day and the Omaha Beach Landings
Sometimes the blurry grainy photos when we can see movement, gives us the feeling of the actual story-telling. We can see the urgent, chaos, fear, and all the emotions derived from being at war, in such rough conditions (winds, currents etc).
This image really transfer to the viewer the story behind it, and it is not sharp and crisp.
Robert Capa’s photographs of US forces’ assault on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, are an invaluable historic record of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France, which contributed to the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control a year later. The largest seaborne attack in history, it was also one of the bloodiest, with a combination of strong winds, unruly tidal currents and a formidable German defensive, resulting in the loss of 2,400 American lives by the end of the first day. Capa’s documentation of the event saw him join the soldiers as they advanced, experiencing the landing on Omaha Beach alongside them as he photographed the scene.
I really was fascinated by the results of the shutter opening in Hiroshi Sugimoto work.
I didn't know the screen will appear to be all white if we open the sutther for that long, and more than that I didn't imagine the people will disappear!
I researched a bit more about Hiroshi Sugimoto as I liked his work, and I like how old-school he is in his approach (eg. using daylight in a studio rather than lightings - I too, prefer a day light even when I shoot products / food etc.)
Michael Wesely
I went into Michael Wesely's website, and even though it was in english, I really liked this image to represent movement and work with long shutter opening.
Maarten Vanvolsem | Strip-scan process to photograph dancers.
In contrast to the widely known exposure techniques, such as the central shutter, the strip or slit-scan technique presents another opportunity for dealing with this paradox of dance photography. In the first place it visually synthesises different stages of a movement in one dancer, and secondly it gives the opportunity to make images that only focus on movements, changes in speed and rhythms. As a result, in both cases, it is the choreography that will be depicted rather than the dancers. My use of the strip technique is therefore an attempt to answer Pieter T’Jonck’s remark that “Photos of people dancing are equally nonsensical, and not only because they nullify the special effect, but also because they conceal the temporal dimension of dance” (Verbeke, 2007, p.20).
Compared to most photographic exposure techniques, the strip technique differs in its relation to time. Strip images contain a fourth dimension, that of time. The technique is used for, among other things, 360° panorama photography and the photofinish (sports timing equipment), and can best be conceived as a scanning technique. Just one line (plane) of information is recorded. By moving this line (plane in front of the lans) one builds up an area, but at the same time one creates a time-line. In other words, the camera does not expose a single frame in a fraction of a second, but records movements through a narrow slit onto moving film. With regard to any vertical line in the image, the short or long strips of photographic images always show a small section before, during and after. In this sense they are photographic images that cry out for movement. After all, when you look at them and you try to translate the images back into a graspable reality, you have to compose the image again and again using elements left and right of the point you are looking at, points from before and after.
Source: Image & Narrative
Wong Kar-Wai
I am blown away, I didn't know about this tecnique or any of Wong Kar-Wai's movies and I love the way he is using the step printing technique in order to make sense of time disappear.
I wanted to see how this technique is produced so I researched further.
Francesca Woodman
Woodman continuously explored and tested what she could do with photography. She challenged the idea that the camera fixes time and space – something that had always been seen as one of the fundamentals of photography. She playfully manipulated light, movement and photographic effects, and used carefully selected props, vintage clothing and decaying interiors to add a mysterious gothic atmosphere to the work.
Source: 'Finding Francesca' 'Tate'
Trace
I started by again choosing the shutter, same as the last exercise I was using my reference points by the course I did on Skillshare. I chose a low shutter speed, and had the camera on shutter priority mode.
I was going between 0.20 to 1/15.
I decided to shoot the eucalyptus trees on our property as the wind always makes the leaves move (and also to make a soothing sound).
I knew at around afternoon I would be able to also catch the moon near the trees.
This one was actually a mistake but I really liked it.
Contact Sheet
When I was taking the photos of ex1 at the beach, I also was inspired to take photos of the iconic rocks on our nearby home beach, I love how the waves crush and splash into the rocks. My camera was on pretty high shutter so it was pretty much freezing the waves, however the water spray of the offshore winds and the crushing of the waves onto the rocks - did leave a trace.
I thought it would be nice to put it in this exercise as well.
Reflection
I actually really like these images, I feel like in my work there is a dominant motive I like to use - which is Yin and Yang.
I like to always show the stillness vs the movement - and I like how it is translated in both these settings.
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