Photography and the Creative Process

Readers now may subscribe to receive new articles by email. The articles will be sent in plain text format. You may sign up by entering your email address in the subscription box at the top of the column at the left.

I was first exposed to photography in college in 1982 when I took a beginning photography course. Once school let out, I headed out to California to roam around. In Oakland, I chanced upon a group of drummers and starting taking pictures.

I love the way my camera captured the motion, and dare I say emotion, inherent in the players’ activity. I call this image “Drumming”.

Drumming is the latest addition to the Street Photography gallery at www.wmgphoto.com.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

I came across this statue of Jesus’s face, rent asunder, in a shop selling Christian religious iconography in Los Angeles. Schism, the photograph’s title was inspired by the crack in the statue’s face, but the more I looked at the image, the more it occured to me that the other elements of the image convey the sense of schism as well.

The right side of the image is dominated by Jesus on the cross. A brother holds a child in his arms, and the child looks lovingly up at the Christ on the Cross.

The left side of the rent image of Christ is a different story altogether. On the left, higher and larger than the crucifix is a statue of a person whose arms echo the arms of Jesus on the cross, but this person’s gaze is directed not on the Lord himself, but rather on the images above, highly iconographic images of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus. Also on the left are various statues of Mary in the different forms in which she has been depicted, including a dark-skinned virgin in the background.

Kneeling on the floor in the left foreground are two children in prayerful pose looking up. Are they looking to the statue of Jesus before them, or are they instead praying to the various images of Mary, the face of one being surrounded by a halo’s glow, and both of which seem to have been placed just ahead of the Jesus statue, and thus, closer to the praying children.

So, while the crack in the face of Jesus brought to my mind the word “schism”, the rest of the composition speaks volumes about what that word might mean in the context suggested by the religious icons on display.

Alpha and Omega, the image in this post, is my latest addition to the Focus on Religion gallery at my online Photo Gallery. I invite you to visit the photo gallery and look at the other images as well.

At the Maryland Renaissance Festival, the performers and other players are not allowed to employ the modern accouterments to which we are accustomed. They cannot wear eyeglasses, eat with plastic spoons, or wear clothing that is not true to the period. This is to ensure that these actors contribute the the authentic feel of the fair.

When I photograph an event such as the Maryland Rennaisance Festival, I try to capture the essence of the event. Were I to capture the Petulant Peasant Girl shown here while she sat holding a digital camera, I would rob the image of its magic.

As it is, I can gaze at this photograph and let my imagination transport me back to another time and place. In this way, I try to use my camera to make magic.