Series and why you need to create one!
Series
My photography teacher once said “If you want to advance in photography and find your own style, go and create series”. I think he used the word “create” specifically as series do not simply appear (sometimes they do), but in general it takes effort, work and insights to form a real series. A serie is not a random collection of photographs. More on that later.
So why this story, when a series is a product from your own hard work, effort and development. Well, because I like to share my experiences, but foremost to share my thought process on how I look at and create series. Besides, series do offer me renewed focus, new perspectives and something unexpected new photographs. When it all comes together it will keep you focussed when going out shooting photographs and to further improve yourself.
So what is a serie?
The definition of a serie according to the common dictionary is:
“a number of events, objects, or people of a similar or related kind coming one after another
For me this results in a chain of photos that have the same principles and/or are equal in subject. Series are all about the story or storyline of images (photographs) and conveying that story. This helps to further explore the definition of that specific serie and it’s story. This can be done by highlighting different aspects and perspectives of a subject, or the complete opposite to strictly photograph subjects in one specific perspective. The choice and the learning curve is your own.
How does a serie come to live?
Whatever the starting point, series often start when you realise that you are photographing a repetitive subject or situation in its context. For me, series tend to start themselves when I have an idea in my head and start photographing, noticing along the way that this idea is now forming into a repetitive representation of subjects, therefore a serie.
So all in all not always a specific set goal or predefined path, but more an idea that leads to an insight and multiple recurring photographs. This in the end helps you to focus more on the serie and use your creativity to further explore different perspectives within this serie. This will help you to define your own style within your photography.
The serie
My current serie has, in this case, developed out of curiosity of a specific forest in The Netherlands. Which in case made me photograph other forests and the serie started. Now coming back to the comment:
“... as series do not simply appear or create themselves (sometimes they do), but in general it takes effort, work and insights to form a real series….”
When setting my goal in creating a more in depth serie of forests in this case, I can now focus my creativity on finding different perspectives and aspects of forests. So for now I have set my goal, but the single perspective within the serie that defines it, is still not set. There are two different perspectives, one is; “colourful and fresh”, the other “light and darkness”.
For me personally I now tend to go with the “light and darkness” perspective as it reveals a sort of “mystery” that is present in forests. But it is still a quest to find the essence of the serie, all in all the creative path and the journey I’m on.
How do I create these photos?
I now photograph with a Fujifilm X-T2. This is a mirrorless camera with live view. This enables me to focus on the composition and seeing how light and darkness work in the composition. Making it a lot easier. So I can really concentrate on finding the right balance with contrast to really let the photos speak.
I mainly use the 35mmF1.4 lens, making it a 50ish perspective with this fixed focal length lens. This allows me to use a narrow or wide depth of field to emphasize contrast and bring out more “mystery”. The usage of a tele lens is also a good idea as it compresses the background and make the forest look even more dense and mysterious. Photographing landscapes with a tele lens will be in a separate blog.
My preference at the moment still is the 50mm for this serie, but that's my personal preference and opinion. Which means that other photos that I have taken with a wide angle lens no longer have a specific place in this series, but that question I need to answer when I’m further along in my process.
How to proceed?
Well, I will continue my quest in further defining this serie and focussing now on the light and darkness aspect of the serie. Again, this leads me to the fact that series can change along the way, do not be scared to adopt a different view. This can lead to the loss of a set of photos that do not longer fit the serie, but you will gain a new perspective and a new creative process. This process will define the serie, will define your creativity and in the end define your style.
So go and use your creativity. Consume photographs, make photographs, edit them and place them in a serie. Follow your flow and create your style! Go outside and shoot!
In this case I totally agree with my former photography teacher. And follow more series here: