Pete Askew
Admin
Last edited:
The Keeper of Secrets
- Thread starter Pete Askew
- Start date
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Hmmm....it all looks very intriguing, beautifully shot and edited, and I'm still asking questions...
Dan Cattermole
Dan Down - The Steampunk Womble
Oh Peter. This is brilliant. Especially with all placed together.
Excellent.
Excellent.
N
Nihat Iyriboz
Guest
A beautiful collection that conveys an unspoken human reality, Pete. 
Beth Carter
Well-Known Member
the truth is out there. excellent series, very well thought out.
Pete Askew
Admin
Many thanks to one and all for the feedback, comments and interpretations of the images in this 'series'. So what are they all about? There appears to be a back-story here and a narrative, but it is not clear. Style-wise they are rather sombre and introspective and share a fairly 'period' colour palette. This was deliberately borrowed from the work of Edward Hopper as was the concept of implied narrative. My guess is that Paul's claims to have guessed what was going on with this series is correct as we have discussed the 'theme' underlying these images before and it is something I find very appealing. I have always enjoyed the works of people like Gregory Crewdson and, more recently, Richard Tuschman and others for, not only the cinematic approach of Crewdson, but also for the rather mysterious air their approach lends to images. They seem like stills from a film that you think you might have seen but can't remember the plot of; they appear to contain a story but it is not clear what it is. It is the ability of photography (and paintings like those by Hopper) to provide this that interests me greatly.
I have had in my mind for quite some time an idea to produce a set of images that appear to be stills from one of these half-remembered films. This series of image is a step towards it. The location is in an unused room at the house of Ina's mother's in the countryside of Lower Saxony. It is a location I have used several times as I find it evokes a strong response in me which I am aware is influenced by listening to Ina talk of her childhood days as well as the slightly desolate (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/landscape-architecture/1475-windswept-land.html) and forgotten feeling (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/general/4794-time-place.html) that pervades these small farming villages. The room used often has wonderful light and I have taken several pictures in there over the years and one of these led to the idea that it might be possible to create a false sense of narrative using that as a location (not my original plan - that is still to come) - http://www.realphotographersforum.com/general/7810-through-curtains.html. On our last visit, the light was good and we had a little time one afternoon and the following morning to produce some images. I have presented a selection here that appear to have some relationship to each other and hint that there is a back story. There isn't. And that is why I was so interested to hear people's interpretation of them (and still am).
This may all seem a bit of a strange thing to do, a bit pretentious even, but it is something that is part of many photographs. Clearly some images are documentary in nature (and here I don't mean the work of photojournalists as these are often influenced by their interpretation and their need to tell a story or prove a point) such as technical and forensic images. Many wildlife and landscape photographs fall into this category although here the desire to produce something that is aesthetically pleasing also, or reflects the feeling one had of a place / time, adds influence. We also record events; weddings, parties, the everyday, wars, famines etc. Within these there are often images which either show the aftermath of something (victims of a massacre) or an event unfolding (a wedding - where everyone was of course joyously happy!).
In a recent posting we see a fine image of a rugby player (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/sports/11148-alex-grove.html) about to achieve a try. We know what is coming next and the photograph captures perfectly the split second before the player touches down. In others we see something in progress, eg http://www.realphotographersforum.com/people-portraits/11056-its-not-my-birthday.html - but it takes an explanation (or very close inspecting and guess-work) to understand what is happening (and in 20 years time will she know what she was crying about?). There are some classic images in which we can see what is happening but cannot be certain of the outcome...
Copyright Magnum
Did he get a wet foot?
So the idea of an uncertain narrative is not new. It is often there but not as a result of deliberate manipulation and it is that element that I find interesting.
I have had in my mind for quite some time an idea to produce a set of images that appear to be stills from one of these half-remembered films. This series of image is a step towards it. The location is in an unused room at the house of Ina's mother's in the countryside of Lower Saxony. It is a location I have used several times as I find it evokes a strong response in me which I am aware is influenced by listening to Ina talk of her childhood days as well as the slightly desolate (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/landscape-architecture/1475-windswept-land.html) and forgotten feeling (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/general/4794-time-place.html) that pervades these small farming villages. The room used often has wonderful light and I have taken several pictures in there over the years and one of these led to the idea that it might be possible to create a false sense of narrative using that as a location (not my original plan - that is still to come) - http://www.realphotographersforum.com/general/7810-through-curtains.html. On our last visit, the light was good and we had a little time one afternoon and the following morning to produce some images. I have presented a selection here that appear to have some relationship to each other and hint that there is a back story. There isn't. And that is why I was so interested to hear people's interpretation of them (and still am).
This may all seem a bit of a strange thing to do, a bit pretentious even, but it is something that is part of many photographs. Clearly some images are documentary in nature (and here I don't mean the work of photojournalists as these are often influenced by their interpretation and their need to tell a story or prove a point) such as technical and forensic images. Many wildlife and landscape photographs fall into this category although here the desire to produce something that is aesthetically pleasing also, or reflects the feeling one had of a place / time, adds influence. We also record events; weddings, parties, the everyday, wars, famines etc. Within these there are often images which either show the aftermath of something (victims of a massacre) or an event unfolding (a wedding - where everyone was of course joyously happy!).
In a recent posting we see a fine image of a rugby player (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/sports/11148-alex-grove.html) about to achieve a try. We know what is coming next and the photograph captures perfectly the split second before the player touches down. In others we see something in progress, eg http://www.realphotographersforum.com/people-portraits/11056-its-not-my-birthday.html - but it takes an explanation (or very close inspecting and guess-work) to understand what is happening (and in 20 years time will she know what she was crying about?). There are some classic images in which we can see what is happening but cannot be certain of the outcome...
Copyright Magnum
Did he get a wet foot?
So the idea of an uncertain narrative is not new. It is often there but not as a result of deliberate manipulation and it is that element that I find interesting.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
So it's not the Annunciation? Damn! [doh]
I'll take some time to ponder all of that, Pete, which is good thing. So many photographic images flash by our eyes, and are never thought of again, but I've a feeing this series will linger somewhat longer than most.
I'll take some time to ponder all of that, Pete, which is good thing. So many photographic images flash by our eyes, and are never thought of again, but I've a feeing this series will linger somewhat longer than most.
Pete Askew
Admin
Thanks Rob. Do you have a new story that matches the apparent narrative?
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Not new, but I'm going to stick with an annunciation theme, with light being the bringer of revelation - not in any normal religious sense, but in a binding, inner-outer dialogue. The sitter learns, comes to know, she is pregnant by contemplation of the light in the room, coming through the veil, penetrating the walls and her body. The subdued colours being the parts of the spectrum not absorbed by the physical world. She sees herself on both sides of the veil, imagines herself as angel, immersed with light from beyond the veil; yet she remains on this side, naked, alone, cold (the heater is not emanating heat). There is a new life inside of her, but is it living? She is beginning to think the flame has extinguished too soon. The light remains on the outside, beyond the veil, while she is enveloped in darkness.
Well, you did ask!
Well, you did ask!
Pete Askew
Admin
I like it Rob, thanks. It is interesting that the light invokes a religious interpretation for you. Is it the frame of her profile behind the curtain that is the revelatory moment do you think?
If I look at the 'sequence' (ignoring that I know in which order they were shot) objectively, I see slight longing in the top frame and resignation in the bottom right and I can convince myself that there is a progression from one the other. But I hasten to add that that was not in my mind when I shot, selected, edited and presented them.
If I look at the 'sequence' (ignoring that I know in which order they were shot) objectively, I see slight longing in the top frame and resignation in the bottom right and I can convince myself that there is a progression from one the other. But I hasten to add that that was not in my mind when I shot, selected, edited and presented them.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Well, that's the result of a Roman Catholic upbringing - light, darkness, angels, Mary, revelation. Although I've moved on from it in many ways, memories are easily stimulated.
In my narrative, the revelation has just happened in the first image - hence the unseen hand on the womb. The rest is her fantasy, interpretation, with hopes and fears, and ideal (bathed in Love) and a reality (a still-born child, perhaps, and her dawning guilt).
Powerful stuff!
In my narrative, the revelation has just happened in the first image - hence the unseen hand on the womb. The rest is her fantasy, interpretation, with hopes and fears, and ideal (bathed in Love) and a reality (a still-born child, perhaps, and her dawning guilt).
Powerful stuff!
Paul Lange
Moderator
The first image for me, although seemed to have indications of loneliness, isolation and a touch of sadness, was more about a study of light and form. The pose seemed just too precise (if Ina sits like that normally she has great posture by the way) and the suggestion of a narrative was something I felt could be just that, a suggestion as nothing more. This is why I think the image works in the way Pete intended to. Although I did have a heads up on Pete's idea I didn't know he had actually started it and the first image was part of it. Therefore I was a bit slow on the uptake and didn't realise until the second image. The other images started to introduce a sense of playfulness which mixed things up a bit and confused the not narrative which I thought was a nice touch.
Pete Askew
Admin
Thanks Paul. You are right, the first image was the keystone as it were. It fitted the aesthetic I was after and from that point forward the other shots followed. Once I knew what they should begin to look like it was easier to experiment with poses etc. The ones with the shutters part closed were done the next morning as I needed light from a lower angle to get the effect I was after.
Paul Lange
Moderator
Hi Pete, I was looking through some old magazines and I found the work of Paul Graham Paul Graham Photography Archive. I would guess that you are probably already familiar with him but just in case you are not I thought I would post the link. His work has many resonances with your idea here.
Pete Askew
Admin
Thanks Paul. I didn't know him but there is certainly some interesting work there. I will have a good rummage later.
