Selfie Circa2023 for profile
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A Selfie : circa 1993
Sunday Stills
This weeks Sundays Still Challenge is a colour focussing on the colours quartz and diamond.
I have a few crystals I have collected over the years and was fortunate enough to find a crystal vein on our property years ago and collected alot of quartz crystals which unfortunately i have since misplaced.
Though as quartz and diamonds are mainly translucent and sparkly I’ve used images ive taken with my crystal ball using it as a lens to see through rather than focussing on its colour.
The crystal Ball causes refraction and turns the World up side Down
And because i feel i have gone completely of topic I have also included a moving image I took of my crystal ball and a tree with my 3D – 35mm camera which has 3 different lenses that simultaneously capture 3 different images of 3 different perspectives of the subject and when combined appear 3d.
Have a great week everyone
Odds and Ends-
It’s been so long since I’ve uploaded anything on here though I thought i would make an appearence by contributing to the lens Artist- #189 odds and ends challenge hosted by Tina.
This week the theme is “Odds and Ends” Initially I was going to include photos from a folder on my computer titled “random things” which is mainly lots of photos of random objects and photographic responses to briefs and themes I have done over the years.
Then I remembered a project I started while doing a short course on building a photographic portfolio last year . I was initially inspired by minimal landscape photos that I had taken over the years and used the word unclutter to link them all together. I then explored and documented my quest to be a minimalist and unclutter my home. I had been motivated by a statement I read from a minimalist book that stated that “we can be just as content with a photo of the object, than the object itself”.
I had planned to photograph all my odds and ends before I threw them out and then make a conceptual response to this project . I did do lots of uncluttering and took lots of photos and made some videos (which i’ll upload below of more odds and ends). I did however lack motivation as areas I uncluttered became cluttered again . Though i will revisit it more in the future .
Here is a selection of odds and ends i took which remind me of their existence. Am I sad I no longer have them , No they weren’t valuable as such just nostalgic so its nice to have an image to remind me.
I also made a few timelapse videos of the process of uncluttering odds and ends. This one is suggesting how images of minimalist landscapes can assist with the motivation of uncluttering .
Captive Horizon
Its been weeks since the travelling restrictions have been lifted In Melbourne and We finally have freedom again. Initially Melbourne metro was under a strict 5km radius restriction due to COVID 19. I created a lot of photographic projects and did lots of learning during lockdown and when Melbourne’s restrictions eased to 25km radius on 19th October I investigated our 25km radius and realised that over half is water as we live on a Peninsula. I was fascinated that the vast expanse of water was untouchable unless by boat or swimming and it was illegal for me to explore. The shoreline had become a border to contain us.
I was inspired to create a photographic response to this new law and decided to photograph the water at the beaches on the Mornington Peninsula within my 25km radius .
Though I find these water horizon shots soothing I’ve never shared them in the past unless they have a interesting feature like a boat or other unique feature to identify them. I got out of my comfort zone and shot many for this project though also included boats and markers as I found them irresistible.
Every day I went to a different beach starting at the PortPhillip Bay side and extending to the ocean and Western Port and in no particular order captured the horizon and water and added them to the evolving photograph of a digital collage of the Peninsula.
Without the restrictions I wouldn’t have been motivated to do this project. The project eased the waiting of the restrictions being lifted and also served as an excuse to explore the area more. 21days and 21 photos later I created the A moving image of all the photos
To celebrate the restriction being lifted I printed the photograph and went to a beach outside my 25km and captured a photo of the photo aligned with the horizon And water in background .
Spring Equinox
This moving image video was taken over six months which not only coincided with quarentine restrictions but also the Autumn and Spring Equinox in Australia.
Let the Sea, Set youFree
Every time you think you are broken,
Know this; you are never really breaking,
No one can break an ocean,
Darling, all you are doing
is breaking the glass that is holding you back,
diving deeper into your own depths,
Discovering yourself in pockets,
of the most somber waves,
Rebuilding your heart with coral,
With seaweed,with moon coloured sand dust,
So stop trying to hold yourself back inside that glass,
It was never meant to hold you,
Instead break it,shatter it into a thousand pieces,
and become who you were meant to be,
an ocean, proud and whole.
-Nikita Gill
Motion Marinade- The Project
In 2012 I began seriously getting into digital photography and would take 20 to 30 photos to get the shot I wanted . Nothing like when I first started with a film camera and every photo was a different shot. Is because I have become lazy or a perfectionist the reality is I don’t delete photos and have thousands of photos on sd cards and hardrives which are organised in dates which had become forgotten.
In 2018 when I was going through the photos and saw the slight movement between the photos ( I actually thought I’d discover motion pictures. Lol) I decided to join them altogether to make little slideshows.Whether it was nostalgia of looking at my children when they were younger and reliving the times I bribed them to be in my crazy photos it gave me the motivation to organise and make more videos and Motion Marinade the project began. I have since become obsessed with creating these videos that are a cross between a stop motion Slideshow Or a pixilation which I have most recently been informed of while doing an animation course. From stop motion to time lapse I have attempted them anything that is essentially a photograph with motion I explore now I have realised I can attach them on here I’ll be sharing more.
This was the first moving image I created from photos I took of my daughters In 2014 A Fairy Tale. I have so many more videos old and new that I’ve created and I’m also currently making a short film that I’ll be releasing later this year.
Enjoy
Zoe x
Rain Drops -A Moving Image
While in lockdown my backyard has become a Sanctuary a place to retreat and observe and immerse in the wonderful details of nature I have taken a lot of photos and Moving Image videos throughout the pandemic.
This particular morning I looked out my kitchen window It had just rained the sky was clearing and the sun was rising and the tree was covered in raindrops which were glistening. I couldn’t quite capture what I saw though it was truly magical . I proceeded to explore some more and was particularly attracted to the drops on a leaf the suns rays made it glow a brilliant white. Below is a video of the magic raindrop and some photos.
enjoy
Zoe x
Zoé Haynes-Smith Photography 