Why are we doing what we do, instead of not doing it? We all have habits, things that we do without really thinking about them. However, from time to time, we hesitate. Dilemmas, uncertainty, hard choices, doubts.
I do not know how everyone is handling such situation. As far as I'm concerned, I often try to weight pros and cons, as objectively as I can. Those two sides love to fight in my head: this is what I wanted to represent in my image. One side of my personality can be hard, disapproving any compromise (represented by the porcelain man, breaking instead of bending), while the other side can be much softer (the darkest man). Here, they are fighting over a decision, which is symbolized by the bird. I had a precise situation in my head when creating my picture, but in the end, it doesn't matter much, as any difficult decision could have been represented similarly.
Technically, here are the main photos that I took for this project:
- The background is completely real, I did not alter it at all. It is a crypt located in the upper part of the Mont Saint-Michel. Since the place is about 3h away from home, it took me a day to obtain it, but I think it was worth it. Incredible place.
- I posed for the 2 men photos. As you can imagine, the positions had to be well prepared, first as a drawing, then in reality. I used various tricks to help me hold the appropriate position; for example, when posing for the liquid man, I was holding a rope in my mouth that was attached to the wall behind me, to help me bend my neck and back.
- The bird photo required around 3 hours of hunting, as ravens love to flee when you want to photograph them.
- The splashes were realized by throwing items in a large bowl of milk.
- Finally, for the broken porcelain, I bought 4 white vases that I broke in my home studio. Photos were taken during the act, to obtain realistic projections, then also when the pieces were on the floor.
I am well aware that I am stepping into a style that could trigger rejection, as symbolism can be hard to understand at times, but I am very happy that some liked it anyway. Thank you.
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big fan of this one. I felt a cringe when i saw the shatter on that rigid man. I wish his face would show the pain of breaking a bit more, but other than that- i really like this.
As always, absolutely brilliant. Congratulations.
What shocks me most when reading your descriptions is that I would be deliriously happy to get 1 of your individual shots. You seem to "casually" merge several stunning images to come up with your masterpieces. This is aweinspiring, truly.
while i don't think this effort was one of your better entries (as far as the challenge topic goes) its amazes me the level of effort and time you put into your works.
I don't want to imagine the state of your studio after "throwing items in a large bowl of milk" and breaking porcelain. Congrats on the blue this is a very very well cured image!!
OH my but you take up hours of my life - shame on you - (smiles) I love to study your work - I love to try and interpret the meaning behind it - some are easy as you have a humorous side I enjoy - others, well, almost impossible to correctly discern what your meaning is if one has never lived your life - but it fits with my darker side so I lose time .. thank you for your notes and also a certain vulnerability (that might exist only in my mind)
not really certain why they are fighting for the bird?? They seem to be made of porcelain but yet liquid at the same time.. Hopefully the description will shine some light on my confusion :) Good job on the editing.
Can't wait to read your notes on this one Christophe. Excellent work as usual. The main (and quite strong) light source seems to be coming from roughly the centre of the image behind the figures, with a secondary source from top right, so visually I don't understand where the similarly strong light is coming from on the top figure's chest. The column on the far left appears to be have a slightly skewed perspective and the floor appears to be going downhill towards bottom left. These are simply observations, not criticisms; you have still received the highest score I have given for this challenge. I sincerely hope you don't mind my comments because I do admire the vast majority of your work and can only dream that I would be capable of even half as much.
Falling Apart
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