Photography Aims
- Joel Stinton
- Sep 11, 2018
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 25, 2018
One of the reasons why I wanted to travel was to take some time away from work and focus on my photography. Having the opportunity to make photographs every day over a sustained period of time is something that I have never been able to do since leaving university, and even then I never made the most of the opportunity given to me.
Earlier in the year I helped put together an exhibition showcasing mine and two other local artists work and it was the first time since leaving university I felt confident about my work. Online I had started to get regular positive feedback and I started to think that if I put time and energy into my work, it is something that I could progress. With work commitments I felt that my work would only meander along. I needed something which would take me away from that and into a position to entirely focus on making photos. To give it ago.
Travelling, is something I have always wanted to do and it is something I haven't really done enough of, certainly compared to the lofty ideals I had as a teenager going into my twenties.
The two go hand in hand. Travelling and Photography. Photography and Travelling. It was a no brainer.
So what are my aims?
Diversify my portfolio
Take portraits
Street photography
Tell stories
Develop my ideas and work
Since leaving university my work has become quite pigeonholed into entirely topographical images. They are often images of objects examining their function or how they exist in the landscape. I want to develop this a lot further, but I also want to have a reset in many ways. To start again.
Starting again I think is entirely normal. I know I need to prune myself from time to time and I want to start leaning into being a braver photographer.
My work is devoid of people. That is partially down to the type of photography I am interested in, but also because I haven't built the courage to take the photo, especially of people.
Travelling is just as much about people as it is the places you visit and to neglect that side in my photographs would be a missed opportunity. A failure. Portraiture comes in two guises, staged portraits or street photography. I'm really going to have to put myself in positions that i am uncomfortable in to succeed in this regard.
Ultimately I want to give a freedom to my photography, devoid of preconceptions about genre and be more spontaneous and liberal with what I photograph, but at the same time maintaining a consistency and style in my work
The images I will post, and the type of posts I will make will come in different ways. Some days I will just talk about the places I visit, about the experiences, sights and sounds. Some days I will deliver my photographs in story form, small spontaneous stories about life and sometimes in long form essays, where a large body of work will start to shape it self after many months on the road.
Shot list:
Urbanscapes
Close Portraits
Portraits in surrounding environments
Street photography
Interiors
High Landscapes
Gear:
I'm keeping it as light as possible.
Fuji Xpro 2
23mm Lens
35mm Lens
Over the last year I have pretty much made the move over to digital cameras. With the length of the trip it makes sense to continue to learn and use them. The Xpro 2 is light, inconspicuous and the saving on film, well.. astromincal. It seems like a camera that is highly suited for travel photography.
The 23mm will be my go to lens, being an APS-C camera this will effectively be a 35 mm lens. It is versatile, light and perfect for day to day shooting.
The 35 mm lens (50mm equivalent) I will use mainly for portraiture. I would obviously like to use a 85 mm equilvant but ..well the lens is way out of my price range.
Outcomes
This trip is very much about figuring out where I am as a photographer, and being able to shoot for 7 odd months means I should get a good idea of where I want to take my work, whether that be realising that it is something I can't pursue as vigorously as I may think, or it is something I can decide to pursue and build some sort of life around.
In the short term the trip should give me plenty of material for an exhibition and a book. Generally, I have a few ideas that I want to pursue on my journey and look forward to seeing the results of that over time.
The trip is also an opportunity to reflect on making a new start for myself, photography in its purest form may not be the only option I can reflect on and there may be other avenues I can pursue simply through the people I meet along the way.
At the end of the day, as long as I make photographs I am pleased with, the trip will be worth it.
Joel
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