My Shooting in Series: An Update

Asher suggested that I post an update on recent work. First, my book series, Bangkok Hysteria, has been edited down to 112 photos, down from the 192-photo version last discussed here.

Second, last year in Paris I saw the great Basquiat retrospective at the Musée de l'art moderne de la ville de Paris as well as the documentary film by Tamra Davies, Basquiat, Radiant Child, which suddenly inspired me to "see" pictures where I hadn't seen any before and to put together the series of 30 photographs Paris au rythme de Basquiat (Paris in the Rhythm of Basquait) in which I was interested in mixing color and B&W, as well as in including some edgier, very high contrast photographs with pictures of less contrast. Here's one picture from this series that I like, although it is not that representative of this series except in its "rhythm".




Generally, I like shooting with series in mind and also putting together series from photographs that were not shot for a series. The 30-photo series, Barrier, is an example of the latter approach. Sometimes, I start thinking about a series title that eventually leads to the concept of a series: currently, the title that keeps going through my mind is Days and Night in the Forest, the tile of of Satyajit Ray's great films, which came to me when I shot the picture below in Chiang Mai. The film is about the reaction of city dwellers (in Calcutta) when they go into the countryside, although my series may depict people in the city:




—Mitch/Bangkok
Beijing Rhythms

Hi Mitch,

Thanks for the update. I have taken a brief look at the links you've provided. I think they deserve more attention than just a glance, so I will revisit them when I have the time.

I hope folk explore Mitch's new work. He has a novel way of examining an entire metropolis by taking many pictures of moving life. It's the disparate collection that helps build some of the rhythm and character of the cities he studies.

There's a mixture of distance and occasional intimacy that somehow melds together as one giant mental structure. When things work for us, the experience becomes alive with new images we make up in the spaces he's left between the images he has shared.

Asher

Hi Mitch,

I looked into Paris au rythme de Basquiat and Barrier.

Overall I really like the concept. Here is what I see:

Paris au rythme de Basquiat is a virtual stroll in Paris, the message is the impression when being at a particular place at this moment. I like the variety of picture styles combined together.
Looking at the series on flickr, it took a few photos for me to grasp the rhythm. The most interesting thing to me was, when one photo defined a location and the next provided another impression from being there. When the content of a series of photos was loosely linked, it was easier for me to follow the rhythm. The concept could be altered into a group of series presented as diptyches/triptyches.

Barriers is particular, as it focuses on a particular object and its meaning in society. At some passages, the impact is quite strong. Thorough opposing or combining examples of different applications of barriers could add an additional twist.

Both are good examples of what I would call 'narrative photography'.

More please!

Best regards,
Michael

Hi, Mitch,

So far I have only had a chance to look at Paris au rhythme de Basquiat.

It is extraordinary.

When we actually take in some context (perhaps the entire context of our daily life), we do it by "polyangulation": we take it in from many angles, at many instants, during many of its states, through many lenses, with various filters applied in acquisition, postprocessing, and retention.

This is why even the most insightful portrait of a person we know well does not come even close to replacing the entire presence of the actual person. It can never represent (nor present) the complex "Carla I know", or "the Cleveland I knew".

Your project, using so many different styles (in many senses of the term) is an excellent use of the concept of polyangulation. Can your entire oeuvre replace the true entirety of Paris? Of course not - not even close.

But it takes a giant step in that direction.

Kudos on this project. I hope to look at some of your others as soon as I can.

Best regards,

Doug

Asher/Michael/Doug,

Thank you for taking the time to look and comment, and for the kind words as well.

It is interesting to learn what people see in a series that you have shot. As stated in the original post Paris au rythme de Basquait was shot in the inspiration, or shall we say, "glow", after seeing the Basquait retrospective and documentary in Paris — after which I simply "saw" and felt pictures that I may not have seen otherwise. It was shot over a period of about a week, except for a couple of pictures added, because they had the same type of feeling, a few months later when I was in Paris again. Then, in selecting the pictures to put the series together, I tried to think of all the things I had thought when shooting the pictures: "rhythm" in Basquait's paintings and its extension to themes that are in his paintings, including art, photography, race, light, order and calm versus movement and chaos, consumerism, semiotics, and, of course Basquiat and Paris itself — and jazz, which he loved.

"Polyangulation": an interesting concept that also be applies to Basquait's work, and I suppose flows naturally from that inspiration.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Beijing Rhythms