Making of a Fine Art Photograph – The Beginning | Nice Photography Magazine - The "Why To" Magazine about Creative Photography and Film Making

Making of a Fine Art Photograph – The Beginning

Posted by Zeke Kamm on 3/13/08 • Categorized as Feature Articles - Thoughts? Comment Below

Making of a Fine Art Photograph

Today I was contacted by a relatively new photo gallery here in Los Angeles. In short, they offered me a solo show. Nice.

I’ve shot about half of the photo series that I’ll be showing over the past year , but that leaves another 7-ish that I still have to conceive, plan, cast, shoot, process, print and frame in six weeks. Oh, didn’t I mention it’s only six weeks away?

Let’s see, it took 12 months to shoot the first half. Now I have six weeks to shoot the second half…

Yes, it’s doable. It seems daunting. My shoots can get complicated. And since I mostly use actors instead of models (and usually do TFP – trade for prints) things can get to be a bit of a hairy pickle if there is a time line involved.

So why am I writing this instead of getting a move-on already?

I thought this would be a good time to introduce a series of articles that follow a photograph from conception to completion. Hopefully down the road I’ll have guest photographers sharing their experience, but in the mean time it’s more Zeke. Can you take it?

So here goes…

Step 1: Come up with the concept.

I already have the photo series idea: Stills From The Unrealized Films of a Stranger. That limits my options which, despite common thought – or at least what I used to think – is actually a good thing. A specific general goal (can you have something that is specific and general?) helps me focus my laser beam eyeballs on the task at hand: saying something compelling with the image, or at least implying it.

Since my budget is skinnier than a cracked out Hollywood trannie and the time frame not much richer, I’m going to put another MASSIVE constraint on my idea brainacle. The idea must use a location and props that I have access to.

Okay, I’m starting to feel a bit queasy now. Maybe I should just tell the gallery I won’t be ready in time. NO! Keep thinking. What do I want to say? More importantly, what do I want the audience to feel?

Well, this photo series is about the moment just before a person’s life changes forever. I want the audience to feel that pressure, that uneasiness, or that potential.

I know! The woods. I haven’t shot any in the woods yet. Whoo, that was a lot of work. What a relief.

Oh, there’s still more work to do? Right. Um. Okay. Kids in the woods. A dad finds his kid dead in the woods. UGH! What? Where did that come from. Still. It’s a powerful image. No. Too easy. Think. Ah-ha! A little kid finds his dad dead in the woods! Geesuss! That’s not much better. Unless… maybe the kid is smiling. Hmm. No. (This process goes on for some time. Skipping ahead…) An alien from outer space who is father to all humans comes back to Earth and finds his children, all 6 billion, are now dead in the woods! No, no, no! How am I going to shoot that with only six weeks?

Got it: An 8 year old-ish boy in the woods sees a girl dressed as a fairy princess, playing, running along a path. We can see in his eyes this is the beginning of life long love.

Too schmaltzy? Nice.