I've got style

This afternoon I was reading a post on Mashable.com about building trust with social media.  In the text of the post were 4 words that stuck out and they didn't have anything do with trust or social media.  The words were:

intonation can convey passion


This short passage got me to thinking about a couple of images I created recently.  The one above and this one:

Intonation in speech is used along with rhythm and stress to convey the speaker's emotional state and to add emphasis or focus to what is being said.  If we think of tonal range in a similar manner we can craft a certain lighting style to emphasize what it is we are trying to say in a particular image.  I've always said that composition, lighting, and emotion are as inseparable as mind, body and spirit.  They're all intertwined and each affects the other. Often in an intangible fashion.  In photography it's possible that poor execution of just one of those elements can seriously handicap the ability to convey full impact of the image.


I think what also struck me is that there is always a certain richly emotional component to my images. And that is especially emphasized when photographing scenes like these two because the lighting was crafted specifically to complement the body language of the subjects. Additionally the composition was chosen to draw attention specifically to the subject but was unlit so as not to distract from the main focus. 


At this point I think these images are significant in that they demonstrate an evolution and example of my style.  What these images do is they tell a story in a single frame.  I can't say what story -- that's left to the observer.  I'm fortunate that creativity for me is often an execution of ideas that just happen to pop into my head. The only reason there is an image of me is that I shot myself as a proof of concept in order to show it to prospective persons I'd like to use as subjects since I'd like to make a series of this.  It just so happens the test shot is good enough to keep.


Creating these images has helped me further define what it is I do.   In making them I know that I make images that are self-contained and tell some kind of story in a single frame by presenting to the viewer a single frame of deeply emotional content.  I often create images with no particular back story to tell.  I'm following what happens to pop into my head.  But instead of handing someone a particular storyline, it's like I'm giving them a feeling in an image. 


This process has helped me to understand that I do indeed have a vision even if I can't express it in a few sentences.