Honestly, I’ve scrolled through Instagram a lot more during lockdown than I normally do. Beautiful image after another. Flooded with content, it’s easy to feel ironically uninspired and desensitised to just another beautiful wedding image. Easier still, to feel flat thinking over your own work. It’s like your subconscious is on auto search for something deeper, something unique and different. Instead of it getting you down, why not use those feelings to think deeper about what your own creative/photographic voice is. The upside to the down side. This is me that last while.
The fact is, my creative output is only the sum of my inputs. So I’ve been examining what I’m putting into my brain — as this will directly influence what I’m making. It’s often the truth of simple statements that hit hardest: you are what you eat.
One photographer who’s work I’ve been devouring of recent, is Alex Webb.
Alex’s photography was a huge inspiration for me a few years ago and last Christmas my girlfriend gifted me one of his photo books (photobooks make the best gifts for photographers FYI). It’s been a great chance to revisit and be re-inspired by the unique way he sees the world and captures it. So here’s a little breakdown of what I love about his work and the elements that I want to influence me in my own.
Use of Light - using what you’ve got
Alex’s use of light and shadow is fascinating. Instead of shying away from harsh and intense sun light, he harnesses it. The shadows, light pockets and pops of colour of harsh light help tell the story in his photos. Light pocket to draw your eye to certain details and shadows to create mystery and contrast. Don’t get me started on colour - yet.
As wedding photographers we often complain about having to shoot in mid day sun. We avoid what we think are unideal light situations all the time. Why not change your perspective and instead think about how you can harness whatever kind of light you are presented with? In New Zealand especially we often found ourselves shooting in harsh, intense sunlight similar to what we see in Alex Webb’s photography. His way of using sun and shadows has inspired me over the years to just roll with it. Instead of shooting in sometimes boring open shade, I’ve shot with shadow and light pockets.
Layering
There is depth in every photograph of Alex’s. There is a clear foreground, mid, and back ground. Each element helping to tell a more complex story. The layers invite you in to experience the moment as a viewer.
It’s easy and lazy to zap off photos just plainly OF your subject — in the middle of the frame — every time. It takes work, brain power and patience to allow your frame to fill with layers. So I’m inspired to move more to give foreground context to images to tell more of the story of what is going — when it is going on.
Filling the frame
“It’s not just that that and that exists. It’s that that, that, that, and that all exist in the same frame. I’m always looking for something more. You take in too much; perhaps it becomes total chaos. I’m always playing along that line: adding something more, yet keeping it sort of chaos.” – Alex Webb
One criticism I sometimes feel with Alex’s work, is that his frames are super busy. They are SO full of different elements all over the image that you often don’t know where to look first. But there is something I can learn from his technique here. I’m often surprised by elements of his images the second and third times I come back to view them. I would love clients to feel like viewing my images. Feeling like there is more to be discovered. More to see by looking around the frame. What can I add to my frames to create that feeling? What’s happening just left or right of my frame?
Colour Threads
“Color is very much about atmosphere and emotion and the feel of a place.” – Alex Webb
Alex ties together colour all over his frame and through out his work. You’ll notice colours in shapes all around the frame. Triangles - to take your eyes from one point to another. It’s clear colour is no accident or coincidence for Alex - colour is often the connection between his subjects, even as they seem unaware of each other.
what drives your work?
Trying new things is hard.
“In 1975, I reached a kind of dead end in my photography. I had been photographing in black and white, then my chosen medium, taking pictures of the American social landscape in New England and around New York – desolate parking lots inhabited by elusive human figures, lost-looking children strapped in car seats, ad dogs slouching by the street. The photographs were a little alienated, sometimes ironic, occasionally amusing, perhaps a bit surreal, and emotionally detached. Somehow I sensed that the work wasn’t taking me anywhere new. I seemed to be exploring territory that other photographers- such as Lee Friedlander and Charles Harbutt – had already discovered.” – Alex Webb
Alex is driven by a desire for his work to feel true, real and to explore new territory. It was at the bottom of feeling that lead him to start shooting in colour. A new direction that shaped his work for the better.
It’s hard to try something new when the medium through which we all display our work is based on a quick reaction of a scroller. We often want to create and post things that are going to get likes. So how can you break free from this? What really drives your work?
I’m inspired to create in a way that explores and feels real - regardless of it’s likability.
So what drives you? And what could you try to push your work in a new direction?
Shoot with flash.
Shoot urban, if you normally shoot landscapes.
Shoot a new focal length.
Shoot in black and white only.
Go shoot with an iPhone only.
Etc..
Whatever it is, be driven by something real.
I believe that everyone has a unique artistic voice, whether they realise it or not. Our creative output is only the sum of your inputs. The best news about that is it is something we can control. We can control our input and influence.
Here’s a few simple ways I feel Alex’s work has influenced my wedding work…
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Auckland Wedding Photographers Chasewild - Auckland, and around New Zealand.