BY BERT STEPHANI
So we finally got off our asses and kicked them in gear, but now what?
I can’t talk for anyone else, I can only talk for myself, but I’m not too impressed with what I produced in February. For some reason, it feels like I’m done with the more traditional documentary stories that have made up the bulk of what we’ve done in KAGE. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always be documenting life but at this point I don’t know if the short photo story is the way to do that for me anymore. Maybe I’ve worked in this style for too long, maybe it’s the pressure of a project at an inconvenient time, maybe I’m just getting old. Whatever the reason, it’s time to explore other ways of storytelling, other types of stories.
Here are some colour shots that didn’t make the project:
Some observations and thoughts:
I might need to give my pictures more breathing room and give them time to speak to me. The whole instant thing is deeply ingrained in my way of working and I need to get away from it.
I would like to work less chronological and literal. I’m not a news photographer, I want to share more personal, complex and nuanced concepts.
Wow, you guys rock. I’ve seen truly amazing images on Instagram from those who joined us in this project.
For the past 15+ years I’ve been carrying a camera pretty much all the time and I need to keep doing that. But I also need to plan very specific photography outings to immers myself completely in making work without combining something else with photography.
It was great to be forced to shoot through this project. Often it’s a matter of just getting started and something will happen. Frustration got the best of me a number of times during last month for not creating anything that I really liked. While I need to push myself to create, I shouldn’t be so harsh on myself if the muse doesn’t show herself immediately. I just need to thrust the process.
It’s too soon for conclusions but that’s fine. Let’s keep shooting and see where it will take me.
Some black and white images that didn’t make the stories:
As a collective, we are not sure where we want to go next. We’ll see but we are interested to hear your comments. How did you experience this project?