Stategical photoseries

So sometimes I get notifications form Threads and it usually consists of posts that they think you would like I guess. Anyway, I got a notification from a fellow photographer on Threads with a heinous take in my opinion but nonetheless, it was a take. They explained that photography could not be considered art as a stand-alone image. This has kind of been in the back of my head for a while because you would never tell a painter or a musician that one song or one painting alone couldn’t be considered a work of art. Especially in recent times, how many times do artists release singles, all the time! And how many times do these singles touch you as the consumer, all the time! Maybe I am biased because I am a music person but you understand the gist, you don’t go into the art museum and expect every piece to be a part of a greater series to serve as influential. If a piece is strong enough to stand by itself, let it stand its ground. If it benefits the piece to display it with others and the other pieces add meaning and enhance the work, display them as a series, the point is, it doesn’t matter.

So Dallan, where are you going with this? Absolutely nowhere, I just wanted to rant about that but, it does funnel into today’s topic of strategic series that was influenced by that post. While I completely disagree with the statement made in that post, it is true that in a lot of cases posting/displaying art specifically photography in series or collections can enhance the work and I intend to provide examples in this blog to explain my point from a variety of aspects.

Sometimes, an image may not be strong enough to stand by itself which is why displaying it with others, gives it a crouch in interpretation. Adding other pieces to a collection may also serve to reveal new aspects of an image. Take these images for example…One morning I woke up early before my lift and went for a walk in the rain with one of my roommates. I titled this series Roaming Ripon and sort of picked out a few micro series within it. This image for example, in my opinion, doesn’t stand for much by itself (this is subjective and will obviously vary from person to person).

As I said, doesn’t really mean much without any context but, when you provide other images in the collection such as these…

These other peices to this series aid in helping persuade meaning. From these other images you may still not know that we were exploring an abandoned school but you may not be able to gather that were out exploring/walking around and clearly found some meaning and signicance to this structure. Another aspect that must be analyzed is that if a peice needs to be supported by other work, is it worth keeping in the work at all? This is something completely subjective and is a decision the artist has to make themselves.

There is another case where you have multiple images that are all strong enough to stand by themselves but together, may provide more insight, more narrative, and enhance all of the work. I have an example of this from a series that I posted today…

1.

2. Background: Arizona was in a heat advisory with temps reaching up to 145 degrees Fahrenheit and this is without being in a Canyon which raises temps even more. There were also, I believe 14 deaths due to heat in the Canyon that year before we went. That rest area was a way for hikers to finally get a break and find some shade. Needless to say, it was hot!

3.

These images that I made, in my opinion, would be strong enough to stand by themselves, however, there is power in numbers in some cases and I believe this to be one of those cases.

1. In the first image, it starts as almost an overview of the rest area, very zoomed out, very much a landscape. I love the color contrast you get from the sun coming into the canyon, it never looks the same. That first image almost makes the viewer second guess what it is they are seeing. Is that a house, Why is it in the middle of nowhere, and what may be over that ledge?
2. This is where the second image aids and picks up where the last one left off. Now the viewer gets a close-up and can probably conclude that it isn’t a house they are seeing, they may notice the horse rack outside the structure, and anyone knowledgable of the Grand Canyon knows that there is a Mule Ride so this image may even give the viewer an insight as to where this was taken if the location isn’t provided. This image also showcases the sheer lack of resources when you are out there. No people, no water, no “aid stations”, nothing.
3. Now this last image is one that wasn’t asked for nor is anyone expecting but in my interpretation of it, goes back to the question in the first image of what’s over that ledge. This image provides the viewer with an overview of the Colorado River and just contributes to the “Grandness” of the Grand Canyon showcases just how vast, endless, and little we really are.

Finally, I wanted to touch on how these series can be achieved. The way I see it is these series can be achieved strategically, or non-strategically. In a strategic scenario, the artist consciously and purposely takes into account making photos in the field that will mesh well together. This can oftentimes be seen in shoots where the photographer goes in with a set plan of what they are trying to capture and oftentimes has an end goal in mind of what the project will look like. For me, as a landscape photographer, I usually don’t plan out these series until later, for me it’s part of “making the images” and the projects/collections. After all, when you shoot the same area or place enough times, there are bound to be similarities, patterns, and even techniques that you fall on when you’re in the field. For me, the utilization of time lines is what usually meshes the work together in an organized fashion. For example, the three pictures were simple shot as I was hiking one after another, after another. The idea that they all came in chronological order that way makes it make sense to post that way. It doesn’t have to be complex, you don’t have to overthink it, but some intent behind what you do can go along way.

So there it is, my interpretation of my work and where my head was when I posted these last three pictures as a series, and how series can be captured either strategically or non-strategically. Thanks for turning into my photography yap session.

Dallan Lopez