One of the first things any photography student learns is that the word Photography literally means 'drawing with light', which derives from the Greek photo, meaning light and graph, meaning to draw. I think it is important sometimes as an artist to remember that. We can often get caught up with the technical details of the craft, thinking about megapixels and camera specs, but really the most important part of an image is what is in front of us in the scene, not the tool we hold in our hand. It’s all about the characteristics of the light.
Photographed with a Mamiya C330 TLR and Ilford HP5 120 film.
The light was really something special when this series of photographs was made. In fact, I had no plans to even make photographs on this particular day. The model and I were planning on going outdoors the following day and she was using my spare bedroom as a landing pad while passing through town. When we both noticed this incredibly intense, yet somehow soft and ethereal light coming through my living room windows during the final minutes before the sun dipped below the mountains west of Portland, we both jumped to attention and decided to harness it on film.
Photographed with a Mamiya C330 TLR and Ilford HP5 120 film.
The scene looked more like a mermaid swimming through the ocean than it did playing with the light of a westward facing window. A golden transparent ocean full of warmth and dancing waves. I exposed twelve frames in a matter of about ten minutes without thinking too hard about it. There wasn’t time. The light was changing too rapidly to worry about complicated exposure measurements. I exposed a roll of Ilford HP5 at box speed (ISO 400) and just crossed my fingers that the contrast wouldn’t be so high as to wash out all the lovely details.
Photographed with a Mamiya C330 TLR and Ilford HP5 120 film.
Sometimes these are my favorite kind of photo sessions. The ones that you don’t plan at all. They just happen at a moments notice like a firecracker and before you even have time to think about it they’re over. Little miracles that result in a short series like this feel like pure instinct and there is something great about that.