Conceptual Photography: Me vs Myself
Before getting into conceptual photography, let’s list the stages of people’s interaction vs photography (based on my personal experience):
- I don’t care: I don’t take pictures and don’t look at other people’s work. Though it seems that digital photography and smartphones have decreased the number of such people, there are still many with such preferences. And I know, I was one of them.
- Snapshots: If I see something beautiful – I will take a picture. No planning ahead, no adjustments. Just “It looks nice”, *click*.
- On place adjustments: You see something nice – you take a snapshot. But after a few seconds, you start thinking about composition. Hey, what about the rule of thirds? Foreground elements? And the direction of light? You continue to take photos and try to maximize the existing situation.
- Pre-planning photos: You know the location you want to photograph. Now you need to scout in advance for spots where you can take the shots from. Think of different compositions. You also take into account where the sun is going to be (in which direction) during sunset/sunrise. This is usually the level of professional landscape photographers.
- Concept or idea: You don’t start with a location or thinking about a photo. You start with a concept, an idea you want to illustrate. After deciding on a concept, you think about the clearest way to convey the idea through a photograph. Some stock photographers go through this process on a daily basis.
I’ve been through all these stages and though I didn’t previously publish my conceptual photographs, I’m starting to do so today.
But don’t worry, I will continue doing travel posts as well.
I had the idea of inner struggle for a long time. On a daily basis, we have inner struggles. To be, or not to be? To go to the gym or not? Go to the gym or stay at home? Go to work or call in sick? Eat that cookie or not?
Well, actually for the last question we do have an answer 🙂
But how to pass that idea through conceptual photography?
My idea to show inner struggle was by showing my vs myself in a boxing match. One one side I wear a black shirt, one the other a white one. On one side I’m not shaved (hey, I haven’t shaved for two weeks for this photograph) and other I’m cleanly shaved. On one side I have long hair… Wait a second. That was the initial plan. But after taking the first shop and going to the hair stylists, I found out that he decided to take a day off. So, on both sides, I have long hair. Well, enough with the talking here is my conceptual photography:
What do you think? Leave your comments below.
You can find related posts under Personal Projects category.
Stay Tuned!
Additional Resources
Here are several resources that I created to help travelers:
- Trip Planner with Attractions and Itineraries is the page that will help you create your perfect travel route.
- What is the Best Time to visit Israel? To answer this question, we will consider the weather, prices, holidays, festivals, and more.
- Information and Tips for Tourists to Israel will answer the most common questions tourists have about Israel (including safety, passports, weather, currency, tipping, electricity, and much more).
- Israel National Parks and Nature Reserves include a complete list, top ten, map, tickets (Israel Pass, Matmon, combo), and campsites.
- If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea Of Galilee, Akko (Acre), Eilat, Nazareth, Safed (Tzfat), and Makhtesh Ramon.
