Creating nightmares

The one thing that will please me more than anything about coming out of lockdown is I won’t have to look at Michael Laing’s self portraits any more. Uumm, I have nightmares about that. Ray Lowe FMPA

One of the highlights of being a member of the Master Photographers Association is entering the MPA critique, each month, where I get my images critiqued by one of the most distinguished photographers in the UK Ray Lowe and generally, I have done exceptionally will winning multiple highly commended awards and two silvers (I am still waiting for that elusive gold).

Due to lockdown, I have unfortunately, not been able to shoot clients but I firmly believe in ‘practice makes perfect’. So with no one else to shoot during the lockdowns, I have tended to shoot myself and entered the images into be critiqued. During this time, I have tried various different things and have become a better photographer for it.

So coming out of lockdown, means that I can get back to shooting clients again and I know that Ray is really looking forward to me not having to photograph myself any more. With the quote above being said at the start of his critique of my images.

Of course, saying that I give someone nightmares, is like waving a red rag to a bull and I felt a challenge come on. How could I create an image that looked sinister. Now I could have covered myself in gore and had a head on a pike but subtilty can be much more scary and I wanted to create something to end my self portrait project, which would make people think.

So I created the above image. Something that was a little different, that tells a story with a minimum about of image. It is often said ‘go big or go home’ but subtly can often achieve as much or more, leaving the viewer to imagine what is happening.

One of the aims of my photography is to allow the viewer to conjure up the story for themselves.

Recently, I entered this photo into a competition. The story behind the photo is that I am bad at DIY. So I created a photo where I used a toilet roll to replicate a drill hole, covered myself in black eye liner, pulled a face as if to say, Oops, I just did something very wrong and in post production added some smoke to suggest I just electrified myself.

Of course, when people viewed the photo, they saw something completely different. They saw the toilet roll as a barrel of a gun and that I was doing a James Bond pastiche. Technically, the image is a complete failure and I didn’t get people to think what I wanted them to think but they loved the image and that is just as important.

The road that I am traveling down is one of telling stories. One of my favourite director is Terry Gilliam. A man with a weird imagination who tells great stories. I am sure that the film Time Bandits, has had a huge influence on my life, making me weirder and more fun.

So if you would like a portrait that isn’t your normal everyday affair, message me. :D