The Conversations Hands Have
1. I chose this topic due to my own connection to it. I enjoy most of the arts, music being one of them. Though I'm not particularly skilled at playing any instrument I love trying and appreciate it when I see others playing. Music can be a lot of things, it can be a way of saying something important, a challenge, or just something enjoyable to pass the time, and I like its versitility.
2. For this shoot I wanted to get across the important role that music plays in the lives of people. I wanted to show it as a form of communication -- saying what words cannot. Some of the pictures I took were of people doing their scales, and practicing their music, but some were just of someone enjoying to play with no real intention in their actions other than to make music. In planning to do this shoot I had to figure out what musicians I had access to. Luckily one of my friends actually had a spare at the same time as this class so I was able to photograph him with an assortment of instruments. The rest had to be taken outside of class, but shockingly I didn't run into any complications.
3. The most difficult thing about this shoot was taking photographs in my basement -- it was a disaster and the clutter in the background ruined a lot of the shots I had taken. The next most difficult part was deciding on the final photos -- I had hundreds by the end of the shoots. With regards to the initial plan and how it went, I didn't have to modify any of my ideas. It was difficult finding a way to make sure my photos said what I wanted them to, but that's why I took so many.
4. When I first started this assignment I knew I had wanted to talk about music and I knew I was trying to convey a positive message, but I couldn't decide on the specific message. When I figured out that I wanted to focus on the hands playing the instrument I made sure they were every final shot; all but the first picture, whose role in this essay is to act as the megaphone for the mouth (otherwise thought of as the hands). I find that all of the final pictures bring across a vibrant excited feeling; the instruments are shining and the colours are bright. I'm very happy with what I ended up with.
